I 


UCSB  LIBRARY 

L  /JL  \  /  — /  I,-*.   _  _ 


LIFE  AND  BATTLES 


JOHN   PAUL   JONES, 


THE 


GREATEST  NAVAL  HERO 


OF 


MODERN  TIMES, 


WRITTEN    BY    HIMSELF, 

AN  I'    KPJTKD    BY    MISS    JANETTE    TAYLOR,   FROM    ORIGINAL   LRTTKR»< 
AND   MANUSCRIPTS. 


BOSTON: 
I'  U  »  L  1  S  H  E  D   B  Y    N  .    B  .    PARSONS 

1855. 


PAUL  JONES  was  an  extraordinary  man,  and  was  en- 
gaged suddenly,  after  having  been  in  a  comparatively 
humble  employment,  in  a  career  connected  with  events 
which  occupied  the  attention  of  the  civilized  world.  Set- 
ting aside  the  services  rendered  by  him  to  the  cause  of 
American  freedom,  there  would  be  no  need  of  preface 
or  explanation  in  presenting  an  account  of  his  life,  and 
selections  from  the  most  interesting  portions  of  his  cor- 
respondence to  the  public  at  large ;  were  it  not  that 
several  works,  professing  to  do  so,  have  already  made 
their  appearance. 

The  first  which  the  Editor  of  the  present  work  re- 
members to  have  seen,  was  a  shilling  pamphlet,  exhibit- 
ed in  the  windows  of  the  New  York  retail  bookstores, 
in  which  was  a  frontispiece,  representing  Paul  Jones  as 
largo  as  the  frigate  he  bestrode,  shooting  a  Lieutenant 
Grubb  with  a  horse-pistol,  more  grand  in  its  dimensions 
than  any  piece  of  artillery  introduced  into  the  picture. 
This  juvenile  reminiscence  would  be  hardly  worth 
recalling,  were  it  not  that,  but  the  other  day,  in  one  of 
the  Southern  papers,  the  writer  actually  met  with  a  de- 
tailed account,  purporting  to  be  a  biographical  sketch 
of  somebody  recently  dead,  who  had  served  under  Paul 
Jones  in  the  Serapis,  describing  the  latter  as  shooting 
this  Lieutenant  Grubb,  with  the  same  horse-pistol, 
aggrandized  in  the  manner  above  specified.  As  no  Lieu- 


4  PREFACE 

tenant  Grubb  ever  sailed  under  the  orders  of  Captain 
John  Paul  Jones,  and  as  no  such  person  could,  in  con- 
sequence, have  been  shot  by  him,  it  is  evident  that  an 
unvarnished  and  full  account  of  the  rear  admiral's  life 
ought  to  be  circulated,  in  regions  where  such  fabulous 
and  monstrous  legends  obtain,  in  this  ags  of  light,  ad- 
mission into  public  prints. 

Ten  years  ago,  a  large  quantity  of  original  papers 
belonging  to  the  legatees  of  Paul  Jones,  were  sent  to 
this  country  with  a  view  to  their  being  properly  con- 
nected and  published.  They  were  submitted  to  the 
Historical  Society  of  New  York.  The  committee  who 
examined  them,  found  that  they  were  valuable  and  inter- 
esting ;  but  circumstances  prevented  their  publication 
at  the  time.  Mr.  Sherburne,  register  of  the  United 
States  navy,  opened  a  correspondence  with  the  owners 
of  these  documents,  as  the  Editor  of  the  present  work  is 
informed,  with  the  view  of  preparing  a  life  of  Jones ; 
but,  the  negotiation  failed. 

Shortly  after,  some  of  the  Chevalier's  manuscripts, 
belonging  to  his  legatees,  if  they  had  known  how  and 
where  to  reclaim  them,  were  accidentally  found  by  a 
gentleman  of  New  York,  in  a  house  in  the  city.  They 
had  been  left  in  the  custody  of  its  former  proprietor. 
From  these,  with  copies  of  letters  and  documents  on 
file  in  the  department  of  state,  Mr.  Sherburne  prepared 
a  volume  which  was  published  in  1825. 

Some  singularly  capricious  demon,  wonderfully  inge- 
nious in  producing  puzzling  and  painful  disorder,  seems 
to  have  presided  over  the  arrangement  of  the  materials. 
The  appearance  of  order  in  some  parts  of  the  compila- 
tion only  makes  the  general  and  particular  entangle 
ments  more  perplexing;  and  in  some  places,  the 


PREFACE.  5 

person  who  connected  the  documents,  having  apparently 
lost  himself,  goes  backwards  or  leaps  forwards,  in  a  style 
of  extraordinary  embarrassment,  occasioning  inextrica- 
ble confusion. 

From  this  chaos,  a  clever  writer  in  Great  Britain  con- 
trived to  select  materials  for  an  interesting  duodecimo, 
which  was  published  by  Murray  in  the  same  year.  It 
contains  some  errors,  and  but  an  inconsiderable  portion 
of  the  Remains,  as  the  modern  phrase  is,  of  the  Cheva- 
lier Paul  Jones.  Being  not  exclusively  English  in  its 
tenor,  it  appears  to  have  incurred  the  censure  of  some 
of  the  British  presses.  This  work  has  been  spoken  of 
in  the  text  as  the  production  of  an  Englishman.  The 
compiler  was  not  well  informed  at  the  time.  It  was 
the  production  of  an  American. 

Within  a  year  past  a  third  life  of  the  Chevalier  ap- 
peared, which  was  published  in  Edinburgh  in  two  duode- 
cimo volumes,  and  is  the  best  which  had  been  compiled; 
as  it  contains  selections  from  many  original  letters,  and, 
what  is  of  more  consequence,  a  translation  of  the  rear 
admiral's  own  narrative  of  the  campaign  of  the  Liman. 
The  Editor  of  that  book,  which  is  the  basis,  so  far  as 
the  order  of  arrangement  is  generally  concerned,  of  the 
present,  gives  in  his  preface  the  following  account  of  his 
materials. 

"  By  his  will,  dated  at  Paris  on  the  day  of  his  death,  Paul  Jones  left 
his  property  and  effects  of  all  kinds  to  his  sisters  in  Scotland  and  theif 
children.  Immediately  on  his  decease  a  regular,  or  rather  an  official 
inventory  was  made  of  his  voluminous  papers,  which  were  sealed  up 
with  his  other  effects,  till  brought  to  Scotland  by  his  eldest  sister,  Mrs. 
Taylor,  a  few  months  after  his  death.  They  have  ever  since  remained 
in  the  custody  of  his  family  ;  and  are  now,  by  inheritance,  become  the 
property  of  his  niece,  Miss  Taylor,  of  Dumfries.  They  consist  of 
several  br  and  folio  volumes  of  letters  and  documents,  which  are  offi- 


6  PREFACE. 

cially  authenticated,  so  far  as  they  are  public  papers  ;  numerous  scrolls 
and  copies  of  letters  ;  and  many  private  communications,  originating 
in  his  widely  diffused  correspondence  in  France,  Holland,  America, 
and  other  quarters.  There  is,  in  addition  to  these,  a  collection  of  wri- 
tings of  the  miscellaneous  kind  likely  to  be  accumulated  by  a  man  of 
active  habits,  who  had  for  many  years  mingled  both  in  the  political  and 
fashionable  circles,  wherever  he  chanced  to  be  thrown. 

"  The  Journal  of  the  Campaign  of  1788,  against  the  Turks,  forms  of 
itself  a  thick  MS.  bound  volume.  This  Journal  was  drawn  up  by  Paul 
Jones  for  the  perusal  of  the  Empress  Catharine  II.  and  was  intended  for 
publication  if  the  Russian  government  failed  to  do  him  justice.  He 
felt  that  it  totally  failed  ;  but  death  anticipated  his  long  contemplated 
purpose.  To  this  Journal,  Mr.  Eton,  in  his  survey  of  the  Turkish  em- 
pire, refers,  as  having  been  seen  by  him.  It  was,  however,  only  the 
official  report,  transmitted  by  Paul  Jones  to  the  admiralty  of  the  Black 
Sea,  that  this  gentleman  could  have  seen.  This  singular  narrative, 
which  so  confidently  gives  the  lie  to  all  the  Russian  statements  of  that 
momentous  campaign,  is  written  in  French.  In  the  following  work 
the  language  of  the  original  is  as  closely  adhered  to  as  is  admissible 
even  in  the  most  literal  translation.  Several  passages  have  been 
omitted,  and  others  curtailed,  as  they  refer  merely  to  technical  details, 
which  might  have  unduly  swelled  this  work,  without  adding  much  to 
its  interest.  Much  of  the  voluminous  official  correspondence  which 
passed  between  Paul  Jones  and  the  other  commanders  during  the 
campaign  is  also  omitted.  These  Pieces  Justificatives  were  only  in- 
tended to  corroborate,  or  elucidate,  the  narrative;  they  are,  save  in  a 
few  instances  which  are  cited,  not  particularly  interesting." 

Besides  the  documents  named  in  the  foregoing  ex- 
tracts, the  Editor  says,  he  had  before  him  the  corres- 
pondence of  Jones  with  his  relatives  in  Scotland,  from 
his  boyhood  to  his  death.  He  has  made  but  little  use 
of  it,  as  his  extracts  from  it  are  few. 

The  defects  of  this  life  are,  that  it  seems  to  have  been 
created  with  a  view  of  supplying  a  requisite  number  of 
pages  of  given  dimensions,  and  that  some  of  the  corres- 
pondence, is,  in  consequence,  arbitrarily  omitted.  It  is 
not  str  ctly  true,  that  the  language  of  the  original  Jour- 


PREFACE.  7 

nal  of  the  campaign  of  the  Liman  is  as  closely  adhered 
to,  as  is  consistent  with  literal  translation ;  and  as  to 
the  passages  "  omitted  and  curtailed,"  the  Editor  has 
occupied  fully  as  much  space  in  apologizing  for  their 
non-insertion,  as  would  ha\  e  been  taken  up  by  a  literal 
translation  of  them.  He  appears  not  to  have  under- 
stood them.  Among  the  Pieces  Justificatives  spoken 
of,  there  are  several  worthy  of  collation  with  the  text, 
and  which  throw  light  upon  it,  while  they  support  its 
accuracy.  But  the  cardinal  defect  of  this  book  is,  that 
though  the  author  seems  honestly  to  strive  to  justify  his 
hero,  (who  needed  no  justification,)  whenever  it  did  not 
interfere  with  his  own  monarchical  and  English  pre- 
judices, it  is  written  in  a  decidedly  English  tone,  un- 
congenial to  the  feelings  and  intellectual  associations 
of  the  people  of  this  country.  His  remarks  of  a  politi- 
cal character  are  often  ridiculous  in  fact,  and  always 
unphilosophical  in  spirit.  The  Editor  of  the  following 
sheets,  cannot  but  smile  when  he  perceives  on  looking 
over  them,  that  a  hasty  remark  thrown  off  by  him  as  to 
the  destinies  of  France,  excited  by  the  sneers  of  this 
writer,  at  the  tendency  of  the  democratic  principle,  was 
prophetic,  and  must  have  been  fulfilled  ere  it  was 
printed,  to  the  great  consolation  of  the  spirit  of  Jones, 
if  mortal  "  blazon"  may  be  to  ears  not  "  of  flesh  and 
blood." 

Miss  Janette  Taylor,  a  niece  of  Admiral  Jones,  ar- 
rived in  this  country  some  months  ago,  having  in  her 
possession  original  copies  of  all  the  documents  which 
were  before  the  Editor  of  the  biography  above  com- 
mented upon,  with  others  which  were  not.  Though  a 
considerable  portion  of  them  had  been  anticipated  in 
the  various  publications  mentioned,  it  was  evident  that 


8  PREFACE. 

there  was  no  single  work  of  a  proper  and  satisfactory 
character,  from  which  Americans  might  gather  for 
themselves  what  is  to  be  known  of  the  private  and  pub- 
lic life  of  one,  who  must  for  ever  be  chronicled  as  among 
the  first  in  courage  and  ability,  as  well  as  in  point  of 
time,  of  the  heroes  who  have  made  the  stars  and  stripes 
respected  upon  the  ocean;  one  too,  whose  chivalric, 
daring,  and  independent  character,  calumny  has  been 
aided  in  assailing,  by  seeming  mystery  and  prolific  ro- 
mance. 

From  the  manuscripts  in  Miss  Taylor's  possession, 
the  present  compilation  has  been  made.  Public  docu- 
ments have  been  referred  to  occasionally,  and  in  two  or 
three  instances,  Sherburne's  Collection  has  been  cited, 
where  the  Editor  had  not  certified  copies  before  him. 
This  work  has  no  literary  pretensions;  and  cannot 
legitimately  come,  as  a  literary  production,  under  the 
examination  of  critics.  It  claims  only  to  be  the  most 
full  and  authentic  of  its  kind.  Many  official  letters 
have  of  necessity  been  rejected,  the  substance  and  even 
the  phraseology  of  which  is  repeated  in  others ;  and  in 
some  instances,  it  is  perceived,  on  looking  over  the 
sheets,  that  the  latter  misfortune  has  been  incurred. 

When  it  is  added,  that  Miss  Taylor  is  only  responsi- 
ble for  the  authenticity  of  the  correspondence  quoted 
from  or  inserted,  and  in  no  wise  for  the  casual  observa- 
tions of  the  compiler,  all  has  been  stated  that  is  neces- 
sary in  this  preface.  It  is  believed,  that  the  pledge 
given  in  the  notice  to  those  who  may  have  subscribed 
for  the  book  has  been  redeemed. 

New  York,  September  23,  1830. 


PAUL    JONES. 


PART  I 


JOHN  PAUL,  afterwards  known  as  the  celebrated  Chevalier 
John  Paul  Jones,  was  born  on  the  6th  of  July,  1747,  at  Arbig- 
land,  in  the  parish  of  Kirkbean,  and  stewartry  of  Kirkcud- 
bright, in  Scotland.  The  family  was  originally  from  the  shire 
of  Fife ;  but  it  appears  that  the  grandfather  of  the  subject  of  this 
memoir  kept  a  garden,  the  produce  of  which  he  sold  to  the  public 
in  Leith.  His  son,  on  finishing  his  apprenticeship,  entered  as  a 
gardener  into  the  employment  of  Mr.  Craik,  of  Arbigland,  in 
which  he  remained  until  his  death  in  1767.  It  is  abundantly 
proved  that  he  was  a  man  of  uniformly  respectable  character, 
and  intelligence.  In  his  profession  he  exhibited  much  skill 
and  taste.  The  English  memoir  contains  the  following  ac- 
count of  his  family,  which  was  furnished  by  his  descendants. 

"  Shortly  after  entering  into  the  employment  of  Mr.  Craik, 
JohriPjaul  married  Jean  Macduff,  the  daughter  of  a  small  farmer 
in  the  neighbouring  parish  of  New-Abbey.  The  Macduffs 
were  a  respectable  rural  race  in  their  own  district ;  and  some  of 
them  had  been  small  landed  proprietors  in  the  parish  of  Kirk- 
bean,  for  an  immemorial  period.  Of  this  marriage  there  were 
seven  children,  of  whom  John,  afterwards  known  as  John  Paul 
Jones,  was  the  fifth :  he  may  indeed  be  called  the  youngest, 
as  two  children  born  after  him  died  in  infancy.  The  first-born 
of  the  family,  William  Paul,  went  abroad  early  in  life,  and 


14  PAUL   JONES. 

finally  settled  and  married  in  Fredericksburgh,  in  Virginia.  He 
appears  to  have  been  a  man  of  enterprise  and  judgment.  Be- 
yond his  early  education  and  virtuous  habits  he  could  have  de- 
rived no  advantage  from  his  family ;  and,  in  1772  or  1773,  when 
he  died,  still  a  young  man,  he  left  a  considerable  fortune.  Of 
the  daughters^  the  eldest,  Elizabeth,  died  unmarried ;  Janet, 
the  second,  married  Mr.  Taylor,  a  watchmaker  in  Dumfries ; 
and  the  third,  Mary  Ann,  was  twice  married,  first  to  a  Mr. 
Young,  and  afterwards  to  Mr.  Louden.  Of  the  relations  o. 
Admiral  Jones,  several  nieces,  and  a  grand-nephew,  now  in  the 
United  States,  still  survive." 

When  John  Paul,  the  fifth  of  this  family,  afterwards  became 
the  terror  of  the  seas,  the  hero  of  a  hundred  fearful  legends,  and 
the  subject  of  admiration  and  jealousy  in  the  most  brilliant 
courts,  it  was  natural  enough  that  so  modest  a  paternity  should 
neither  satisfy  the  romance  of  the  imaginative,  nor  the  antipa- 
thy of  the  envious  and  intimidated ;  and  many  stories  were 
current,  some  assigning  to  him  Mr.  Craik,  and  others  an  earl 
of  Selkirk,  as  his  father.  These  weak  inventions  have  long 
since  been  exploded,  though  preserved  in  the  pages  of  fanciful 
novelists.  In  answer  to  an  inquiry  of  Baron  Vander  Capellan, 
in  1779,  Jones  says,  "  I  never  had  any  obligation  to  Lord  Sel- 
kirk, except  for  his  good  opinion ;  nor  does  he  know  me  or 
mine,  except  by  character."  This  is  verified  by  the  whole 
tenor  of  the  correspondence  which  we  shall  have  occasion  to 
introduce. 

If  ever  localities  might  be  inferred  to  have  determined  the  in- 
tellectual bias  of  an  individual,  the  birthplace  of  John  Paul,  and 
the  scenery  and  associations  of  its  vicinity,  may  be  cited  as  ad- 
mirably calculated  to  lay  the  groundwork  for  the  restless  spirit 
of  adventure,  an  inclination  for  poetry,  and  an  occasional  ima- 
ginary longing  for  solitude,  study,  and  rural  retirement,  all  of 
which,  without  any  real  inconsistency,  were  subsequently  deve- 
loped in  his  character. 

His  father  lived  near  the  shores  of  the  Solway,  in  one  of  the 
most  picturesque  and  beautiful  points  of  the  Frith.  The 


PAUL  JONES.  15 

favourite  pastime  of  his  earliest  years  was  to  launch  ms  "  fairy 
frigate"  on  the  waters,  and  issue  commands  to  his  supposed 
officers  and  crew.  At  this  time,  the  town  of  Dumfries  carried 
on  a  considerable  trade  in  tobacco  with  America,  the  cargoes  of 
which  were  unshipped  at  the  Carse-thorn,  near  the  mouth  of  the 
river  Nith,  which  was  not  then  navigable  by  foreign  vessels. 
His  daily  intercourse  with  seamen  here,  tended  of  course  to 
strengthen  and  confirm  his  nascent  passion.  It  is  also  observed 
that  his  regard  for  America,  and  his  willingness  to  descend  with 
fire  and  sword,  in  her  cause,  upon  the  shores  of  his  native  land, 
which  were  thought  unnatural,  may  have  had  their  origin  in  the 
conversations  of  mariners  from  the  discontented  colonies. 

Certain  it  is  that  his  disposition  to  begin  his  career  upon  the 
ocean  was  so  strong,  that  his  friends  deemed  it  proper  to  yield 
to  it.  At  the  age  of  twelve,  he  was  bound  apprentice  to  Mr. 
Younger,  a  respectable  merchant  in  the  American  trade,  resid- 
ing at  Whitehaven,  on  the  opposite  side  of  Solway  Frith.  Vul- 
gar invention,  in  its  distorted  picture  of  his  life  and  actions, 
assumed  that  he  ran  away  to  sea  against  the  will  of  his  rela- 
tions, a  rumour  which  they  always  declared  to  be  totally  without 
foundation.  Neither  then,  nor  at  any  subsequent  period,  was 
he  wanting  in  affection  for  them,  and  solicitude  for  their  welfare. 
His  anxiety  for  the  comforts  and  respectability  of  his  sisters 
and  their  families,  was  warmly  and  substantially  expressed  in 
his  prosperity,  and  at  his  death  he  bequeathed  to  them  all  his 
property. 

His  education  at  the  parish  school  of  Kirkbean,  must  of  course 
have  been  limited,  but  there  is  no  doubt  he  improved  it  to  the 
best  advantage.  The  general  correctness  of  his  style  and  or- 
thography indicate  that  he  had  been  well  instructed  in  the  rudi- 
ments of  grammar.  Notwithstanding  his  strong  relish  for  active 
and  dangerous  adventure,  he  devoted  its  intervals  to  close  ap- 
plication to  study.  While  in  port,  whether  abroad  or  at 
Whitehaven,  during  the  period  of  his  apprenticeship,  he  applied 
himself  to  learning  the  theory  of  navigation,  and  to  other  sub- 
jects of  practical  use.  Many  years  after,  we  find  him  in  one  of 


16  PATTL   JONES. 

his  letters,  while  modestly  admitting  that  much  more  accom 
plished  seamen  might  be  found  than  himself,  referring  to  hours 
of  systematic  "midnight"  study.  In  the  letters  written  in 
French,  which  are  in  his  own  hand,  the  spelling  is  infinitely 
more  accurate  than  that  of  many  of  his  illustrious  and  titled 
correspondents.  These  circumstances  show  that  his  mental 
culture  was  methodically  and  well  begun  :  and  these  habits  of 
mind  are  not  such  as  belong  to  a  reckless  adventurer  in  quest 
of  mere  private  emolument  or  personal  fame. 

He  made  his  first  voyage  before  he  was  thirteen,  in  the 
Friendship,  of  Whitehaven,  Captain   Benson,  bound  for  the 
Rappahannock.     His  home,  while  in  port,  was  the  house  of  an 
elder  brother,  William,  who  had  married  and  settled  in  Virginia. 
His  prepossessions  in  favour  of  America,  and  sympathy  with 
colonial  feelings,  were  here  naturally  fostered  under  circum- 
stances calculated  to  make  them  keen  and  enduring ;  indissolu- 
bly  connected  as  they  were  with  his  first  professional  impressions. 
The  correctness  of  his  conduct,  and  his  extraordinary  intelli- 
gence and  aptitude  for  acquiring  knowledge  in  naval  matters, 
caused  him  to  be  most  favourably  regarded  by  his  master.     Mr. 
Younger,  however,  soon  found  his  affairs  embarrassed ;  and 
was  induced,  in  consequence,   to  give  up  Paul's  indentures. 
This  License  to  act  for  himself,  would  have  been,  to  a  boy  whose 
purposes  in  living  were  not  in  some  measure  fixed,  and  whose 
will  was  undecided  as  to  the  future,  a  passport  to  obscurity,  if 
not  to  disgrace.     In  Paul's  case,  it  was  sumpta  prudenter.     He 
availed  himself  of  it  wisely,  having  confidence  in  himself.     He 
obtained  the  appointment  of  third '•  mate  of  the  King  George,  of 
Whitehaven,  a  vessel  engaged  in  the  slave  trade.     In  1766,  he 
shipped  as  chief  mate,  on  board  the  brigantine  Two  Friends, 
of  Kingston,  Jamaica,  which  was  engaged  in  theV^jsame  traffic. 
It  is  said  by  the  friends  of  Paul,  that  he  became*  Disgusted  with 
the  business  of  stealing  human  beings,  and  left  the  ship  on  its 
arrival  in  the  West  Indies.     Independently  of  their  evidence, 
which  is  in  every  respect  entitled  to  credit,  the  supposition  will 
be  found  to  be  confirmed  by  the  uniform  tenor  of  his  correspon- 


PAUL  JONES.  17 

dence,  whenever  he  speaks  of  the  principles  of  action*  whicn  he 
asserts  to  have  governed  his  services  and  enterprises.  And  it 
is  fair  to  infer,  that  the  exhibition  of  these  horrors,  at  which  his 
feelings  revolted,  strengthened  his  love  for  that  liberty  in  whose 
cause  he  afterwards  fought ;  and  for  that  land  which  knew  how 
to  vindicate  the  cause  of  liberty.  And  he  had  the  means  of 
knowing  then  and  thereafter,  why  that  land  suffered  under  the 
curse  introduced  by  those  whose  yoke  it  was  about  shaking  off; 
though  it  could  not  shake  off  the  baleful  legacy  now  pointed  to 
as  its  disgrace,  by  the  ignorant  and  hireling  politicians,  or 
maundering  and  useless  philanthropists  of  the  mother  land — 
that  "nursing  mother"  of  convicts  and  slaves,  and  "stern  rug- 
ged nurse"  of  our  pilgrim  fathers. 

It  is  stated,  at  any  rate,  by  those  from  whom  alone  any  infor- 
mation can  be  derived,  as  to  Paul's  adventures  at  this  period, 
that  he  returned  to  Scotland  from  this  second  slaving-voyage,  as 
a  passenger,  in  the  brigantine  John,  of  Kirkcudbright,  Captain 
Macadam  commander.  On  this  voyage  the  captain  and  mate 
both  died  of  fever ;  and  there  being  no  one  on  board  equally 
capable  of  navigating  the  ship,  Paul  assumed  the  command, 
and  brought  her  safe  into  port.  For  this  service  he  was  ap- 
pointed by  the  owners,  Currie,  Beck,  &.  Co.,  master  and  super- 
cargo. 

It  appears  that  Paul  sailed  for  two  voyages,  as  master,  in 
the  employment  of  this  firm,  and,  sometime  in  the  course  of 
the  year  1780,  found  it  necessary,  in  order  to  preserve  his 
authority  and  enforce  discipline,  to  punish  a  man  named  Mungo 
Maxwell,  borne  on  the  books  as  carpenter  of  the  vessel.  Mun- 
go, being  whipped,  (as  he  no  douht  deserved  to  be,  according 
to  the  practical  code  which  still  prevails  in  the  English  and 
American  mercantile  marine  service,)  stated  to  the  authorities 
at  Tobago,  that  his  back  was  sore,  and  that  his  feelings  were 
hurt ;  both  of  which  representations  they  seem  to  have  believed 


*  For  which  "  he  drew  his  sword ;"  an  expression  which  he  makes  use  of  avail  his 
letters,  whenever  he  speaks  of  his  employment  as  a  naval  commander. 

a 


18  PATTL   JONES. 

in,  without  feeling  themselves  called  upon  to  heal  the  one,  or 
to  sooth  the  other.  But  it  appears  that  he  subsequently  insti- 
tuted a  prosecution  against  Paul  in  England,  which  gave  the 
latter  some  trouble,  as  will  be  seen  by  a  letter  from  him  to  his 
mother  and  sisters,  which  we  shall  presently  introduce. 

There  would  scarcely  be  any  necessity  of  mentioning  this  cir- 
cumstance at  all,  were  it  not  that  calumny  founded  upon  it  one 
of  its  grossest  charges  against  him  who  was  afterwards  the 
Chevalier  Paul  Jones  ;  that  he  was  accused  by  vulgar  rumour 
of  torturing  Mungo,  by  the  process  of  flagellation,  in  a  manner 
which  caused  his  death  ;  and  that  his  enemies  did  not  disdain  to 
rake  up  this  legend,  when  he  had  the  glory  and  the  misfortune 
of  exciting  the  jealousy  of  the  Russian  courtiers.  All  the  au- 
thentic particulars  of  the  transaction  which  we  can  obtain  now, 
are,  that  being  invested  with  a  legitimate  authority,  which 
it  was  more  peculiarly  necessary  for  the  preservation  of  the 
vessel  and  cargo,  on  that  account,  to  sustain,  Paul  punished  a 
sailor  for  rebellion  and  sullen  impudence ;  and  that  the  subject 
of  discipline,  was  displeased,  as  was  naturally  to  be  expected. 
The  following  are  the  official  documents  which  Paul  thought 
proper,  or  found  it  expedient  to  procure,  in  relation  to  this  trans- 
action. 

'  Tobago. 

"  Before  the  Honourable  Lieutenant-Governor,  William 
Young,  Esq.  of  the  island  aforesaid,  personally  appeared  James 
Simpson,  Esq.  who,  being  duly  sworn  upon  the  Holy  Evangelists 
of  Almighty  God,  deposeth  and  saith,  That  some  time  about  the 
beginning  of  May,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  seven 
hundred  and  seventy,  a  person  in  the  habit  of  a  sailor  came  to 
this  deponent  (who  was  at  that  time  Judge  Surrogate  of  the 
Court  of  Vice-Admiralty  for  the  island  aforesaid)  with  a  com- 
plaint against  John  Paul,  (commander  of  a  brigantine  then  lying 
in  Rockley  Bay  of  the  said  island,)  for  having  beat  the  then 
complainant,  (who  belonged  to  the  said  John  Paul's  vessel,)  at 
the  same  time  showing  this  deponent  his  shoulders,  which  had 
thereon  the  marks  of  several  stripes,  but  none  that  were  either 


PAUL   JONES.  19 

mortal  or  dangerous,  to  the  best  of  this  deponent's  opinion  and 
belief.  And  this  deponent  further  saith,  that  he  did  summon  the 
said  John  Paul  before  him,  who,  in  his  vindication,  alleged  that 
the  said  complainant  had  on  all  occasions  proved  very  ill  quali- 
fied for,  as  well  as  very  negligent  in,  his  duty ;  and  also,  t*Rit  he 
was  very  lazy  and  inactive  in  the  execution  of  his,  the  said  John 
Paul's  lawful  commands,  at  the  same  time  declaring  his  sorrow 
for  having  corrected  the  complainant.  And  this  deponent  fur- 
ther saith,  that  having  dismissed  the  complaint  as  frivolous,  the 
complainant,  as  this  deponent  believes,  returned  to  his  duty. 
And  this  deponent  further  saith,  that  he  has  since  understood 
that  the  said  complainant  died  afterwards  on  board  of  a  dif- 
ferent vessel,  on  her  passage  to  some  of  the  Leeward  Islands, 
and  that  the  said  John  Paul  (as  this  deponent  is  informed)  has 
been  accused  in  Great  Britain  as  the  immediate  author  of  the 
said  complainant's  death,  by  means  of  the  said  stripes  herein  be- 
fore mentioned,  which  accusation  this  deponent,  for  the  sake  of 
justice  and  humanity,  in  the  most  solemn  manner  declares,  and 
believes  to  be,  in  his  judgment,  without  any  just  foundation,  so 
far  as  relates  to  the  stripes  before  mentioned,  which  this  depo- 
nent very  particularly  examined.  And  further  this  deponent 
saith  not. 

"  JAMES  SIMPSON. 
"  Sworn  before  me,  this  30th  day  of 
June,  1772,  WILLIAM  YOUNG." 

"  James  Eastment,  mariner,  and  late  master  of  the  Barcelona 
packet,  maketh  oath,  and  saith,  That  Mungo  Maxwell,  carpen- 
ter, formerly  on  board  the  John,  Captain  John  Paul,  master, 
came  in  good  health  on  board  his,  this  deponent's,  said  vessel, 
then  lying  in  Great  Rockley  Bay,  in  the  island  of  Tobago,  about 
the  middle  of  the  month  of  June,  in  the  year  one  thousand  seven 
hundred  and  seventy,  in  the  capacity  of  a  carpenter,  aforesaid  ; 
that  he  acted  as  such  in  every  respect  in  perfect  health  for  some 
days  after  he  came  on  board  this  deponent's  said  vessel,  the 
Barcelona  uacfcst  •  after  which  he  was  taken  ill  of  a  fever  and 


20  PAUL    JOKES. 

lowness  of  spirits,  which  continued  for  four  or  five  days,  when 
he  died  on  board  the  said  vessel,  during  her  passage  from  To- 
bago to  Antigua.  And  this  deponent  further  saith,  that  he  never 
heard  the  said  Mungo  Maxwell  complain  of  having  received  any 
ill  UL^ge  from  the  said  Captain  John  Paul ;  but  that  he,  this 
deponent,  verily  believes  the  said  Mungo  Maxwell's  death  was 
occasioned  by  a  fever  and  lowness  of  spirits,  as  aforesaid,  and 
not  by  or  through  any  other  cause  or  causes  whatsoever. 

"  JAMES  EASTMENT. 
"  Sworn  at  the  Mansion  House,  London, 

this  30th  of  January,  1773,  before  me, 

JAMES  TOWNSEND,  Mayor." 

"  These  do  certify  to  whom  it  may  concern,  that  the  bearer, 
Captain  John  Paul,  was  two  voyages  master  of  a  vessel  called 
the  John,  in  our  employ  in  the  West  India  trade,  during  which 
time  he  approved  himself  every  way  qualified  both  as  a  naviga- 
tor and  supercargo ;  but  as  our  present  firm  is  dissolved,  the 
vessel  was  sold,  and  of  course  he  is  out  of  our  employ,  all  ac- 
counts between  him  and  the  owners  being  amicably  adjusted. 
Certified  at  Kirkcudbright  this  1st  of  April,  1771. 

"  CURRIE,  BECK,  &  Co. 

The  following  is  the  letter  to  his  mother  and  sisters,  written 
more  than  two  years  after  the  affair  in  question,  during  which 
time  he  must  have  made  other  voyages. 

"  London,  24th  Septembei;  1772. 

"MT    DEAR   MOTHER   AND    SISTERS, 

"I  only  arrived  here  last  night  from  the  Grenadas.  I  have 
had  but  poor  health  during  the  voyage ;  and  my  success  in  it 
not  having  equalled  my  first  sanguine  expectations,  has  added 
very  much  to  the  asperity  of  my  misfortunes,  and,  I  am  well 
assured,  was  the  cause  of  my  loss  of  health.  I  am  now,  how- 
ever, better,  and  I  trust  Providence  will  soon  put  me  in  a  way 
to  get  bread,  and  (which  is  by  far  my  greatest  happiness)  be 


PAUL   JONES.  21 

serviceable  to  my  poor  but  much-valued  friends.  I  am  able  to 
give  you  no  account  of  my  future  proceedings,  as  they  depend 
upon  circumstances  which  are  not  fully  determined. 

"  I  have  enclosed  you  a  copy  of  an  affidavit  made  before 
Governor  Young  by  the  Judge  of  the  Court  of  Vice-Admiralty  of 
Tobago,  by  which  you  will  see  with  how  little  reason  my  life  has 
been  thirsted  after,  and,  which  is  much  dearer  to  me,  my  honour, 
by  maliciously  loading  my  fair  character  with  obloquy  and  vile 
aspersions.  I  believe  there  are  few  who  are  hard-hearted  enough 
to  think  I  have  not  long  since  given  the  world  every  satisfaction 
in  my  power,  being  conscious  of  my  innocence  before  Heaven, 
who  will  one  day  judge  even  my  judges.  I  staked  my  honour,  life, 
and  fortune  for  six  long  months  on  the  verdict  of  a  British  jury, 
notwithstanding  I  was  sensible  of  the  general  prejudices  which 
ran  against  me ;  but,  after  all,  none  of  my  accusers  had  the  cou- 
rage to  confront  me.  Yet  I  sfcn  willing  to  convince  the  world, 
if  reason  and  facts  will  do  it,  that  they  have  had  no  foundation 
for  their  harsh  treatment.  I  mean  to  send  Mr.  Craik  a  copy 
properly  proved,  as  his  nice  feelings  will  not  perhaps  be  other- 
ways  satisfied  ;  in  the  mean  time,  if  you  please,  you  may  show 
him  that  enclosed.  His  ungracious  conduct  to  me  before  I  left 
Scotland  I  have  not  yet  been  able  to  get  the  better  of.  Every 
person  of  feeling  must  think  meanly  of  adding  to  the  load  of  the 
afflicted.  It  is  true  I  bore  it  with  seeming  unconcern,  but  Hea- 
ven can  witness  for  me,  that  I  suffered  the  more  on  that  very 
account.  But  enough  of  this."  *  *  * 

The  precise  nature  of  the  ungracious  conduct  of  Craik,  refer- 
red to  in  the  foregoing  letter  cannot  now  be  explained  with  pre- 
cision, but  may  easily  be  conjectured.  Paul  looked  up  to  this 
gentleman  as  the  former  patron  of  his  father,  and  existing  pro- 
tector of  his  mother  and  sisters,  with  gratitude  and  deference, 
and  probably  with  a  warmth  of  respectful  regard,  which  was 
chilled  by  the  mortifying  coldness  of  a  cautious  reception,  such 
as  it  is  reasonable  to  infer  he  may  have  met  with  from  Mr.  Craik, 
to  whom  his  conduct  had  been  misrepresented.  He  had,  no 
doubt,  taken  it  for  granted  that  his  own  simple  statements 


22  PAUL   JONES. 

would  be  sufficient  to  satisfy  what  he  calls  the  "  nice  feelings"  of 
that  gentleman ;  in  which  expectation  it  would  seem  that  he 
was  disappointed.  It  is  known  that  Mr.  C.  subsequently  ex- 
culpated him  from  all  blame  in  the  affair  of  Mungo.  The  fol- 
lowing letter  appears  to  have  been  the  last  which  Paul  ever  ad- 
dressed to  him. 

"  St.  Georges,  Grenada,  5th  Aug.  1770. 
««  SIR, 

"  Common  report  here  says  that  my  owners  are  going  to  fin- 
ish their  connexions  in  the  West  Indies  as  fast  as  possible.  How 
far  this  is  true,  I  shall  not  pretend  to  judge ;  but  should  that 
really  prove  the  case,  you  know  the  disadvantages  I  must  of 
course  labour  under. 

"  These,  however,  would  not  have  been  so  great  had  I  been 
acquainted  with  the  matter  sooner,  as  in  that  case  I  believe  I 
could  have  made  interest  with  some  gentlemen  here  to  have  been 
concerned  with  me  in  a  large  ship  out  of  London  ;  and  as  these 
gentlemen  have  estates  in  this  and  the  adjacent  islands,  I  should 
have  been  able  to  make  two  voyages  every  year,  and  always  had 

a  full  ship  out  and  home,  &c.  &c.  &c. 

********** 

"  However,  I  by  no  means  repine,  as  it  is  a  maxim  with  me 
to  do  my  best,  and  leave  the  rest  to  Providence.  I  shall  take 
no  step  whatever  without  your  knowledge  and  approbation. 

"  I  have  had  several  very  severe  fevers  lately,  which  have  re- 
duced me  a  good  deal,  though  I  am  now  perfectly  recovered. 

"  I  must  beg  you  to  supply  my  mother,  should  she  want  any 
thing,  as  I  well  know  your  readiness. 

"  I  hope  yourself  and  family  enjoy  health  and  happiness.  I 
am,  most  sincerely,  Sir,  your's  always, 

"JOHN  PAUL." 

Shortly  after  this  period,  Paul  commanded  the  Betsy  of  Lon- 
don, a  vessel  engaged  in  the  West  India  trade.  He  has  been 
accused  of  being  concerned  in  the  smuggling  business,  which 


PAUL   JONES.  23 

was  at  this  time  carried  on  to  a  great  extent  by  those  who  lived 
along  the  shores  of  the  Solway ;  a  charge  which  he  always 
solemnly  denied,  and  which  there  is  not  a  particle  of  evidence 
to  support.  On  the  contrary,  the  very  first  entry  of  licensed 
goods  from  England,  made  in  the  Isle  of  Man  after  it  was  an- 
nexed to  the  crown,  stands  in  his  name  in  the  Custom  House 
books  at  Douglas,  being  of  the  first  rum  regularly  imported 
there.  His  commercial  speculations  in  the  West  Indies  were 
various  and  extensive.  His  letters  in  relation  to  them,  written 
at  different  subsequent  periods,  may  in  general  be  more  con- 
veniently introduced  in  their  chronological  order.  In  1771  he 
saw  his  relations  in  Scotland  for  the  last  time.  In  1773  he  went 
to  Virginia,  to  arrange  the  affairs  of  his  brother  William,  who 
had  died  childless  and  intestate.  He  left  funds  at  Tobago  and 
elsewhere,  which  the  faithlessness  of  his  agents  prevented  him 
from  realizing  as  he  had  expected.  He  was  soon  to  be  called 
upon  to  act  in  the  great  struggle  for  liberty,  whose  coming  events 
were  to  swallow  up  in  their  importance  the  calculations  of  pri- 
vate interest. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  at  this  time  he  thought  he  had 
determined  to  devote  the  rest  of  his  life  to  the  peaceful  pursuits 
of  agriculture,  study,  and  domestic  life  ;  or  as  he  phrases  it,  in 
one  of  his  favourite  quotations,  to  "  calm  contemplation  and  po- 
etic ease."  In  his  letter  to  the  Countess  of  Selkirk,  in  which  he 
affirms  that  such  was  his  fixed  purpose,  he  also  speaks  of  having 
been  led  to  "  sacrifice  not  only  his  favourite  scheme  of  life,  but 
the  softer  affections  of  his  heart,  and  his  hopes  of  domestic  hap- 
piness." We  have  no  data  from  which  to  infer  that  these 
schemes,  affections,  and  hopes,  revolved  around  any  ascertained 
and  existing  orb,  and  centre  of  attraction ;  or  that  Paul  felt 
any  more  distinct  longing  than  that  inspired  by  the  general  be- 
soin  d'aimer,  proper  to  his  age  and  imaginative  temperament. 
The  latter  was  vastly  different  from  that  given  by  our  modern 
poets  and  moralists  to  their  corsairs  and  pirates,  and  pilots  in 
disguise.  Paul's  letters  show  throughout  that  he  had  a  sense 
of  moral  and  religious  obligation,  tinged  with  a  true  chivalric 


24  PAUL   JONES. 

feeling,  such  as  does  not  belong  to  robbers  and  cut-throats. 
His  early  education  was  in  Scotland.  We  find,  too,  that 
Thomson  was  his  favourite  poet.  It  is  unnecessary,  in  addi- 
tion to  his  own  reiterated  assertions,  to  cite  the  common-places 
of  those  who  have  best  studied  human  nature,  and  whose  re- 
marks have  become  pro  verbs,  —or  parallel  cases  in  real  life, — to 
strengthen  our  belief  that  it  was  his  intention  at  this  time  to 
abandon  the  sea-service ;  to  plant  and  sow,  and  reap  and  gather, 
in  the  due  seasons  of  seed  time  and  harvest ;  to  take  care  of  an 
interesting  family ;  and  accept  the  terms  of  the  curse  which  a 
distinguished  profligate  once  thought  so  dreadful,  of  "being 
married,  and  settled  in  the  country." 

It  would,  however,  be  equally  unwise  to  believe,  that  this 
dream  of  "  calm  contemplation  and  domestic  ease,"  would  not, 
under  the  most  favourable  circumstances  for  the  encouragement 
of  the  illusion,  soon  have  proved  its  relationship  to  all  the  waking 
and  sleeping  family  of  phantasms.  Paul  was  born  for  excite- 
ment and  for  action ;  and  his  rural  and  pastoral  meditations 
were  but  the  solicited  relaxations  of  the  mind,  craving  them  as 
the  body  does  its  natural  repose. 

It  is  not  unlikely  that  at  this  time  the  details  and  associations 
of  West  India  trading  voyages  seemed  disgusting  to  him.  It 
would  appear  indeed,  from  the  following  passage  in  a  letter  al- 
ready referred  to,  addressed  to  the  Hon.  Robert  Morris  three 
years  after  this  period,  that  his  commercial  affairs  had  become 
temporarily  entangled.  He  says,  "  I  conclude  that  Mr.  Hewes 
has  acquainted  you  with  a  very  great  misfortune  which  befell  me 
some  years  ago,  and  which  brought  me  into  North  America.  I 
am  under  no  concern  whatever,  that  this,  or  any  other  past  cir- 
cumstance of  my  life,  will  sink  me  in  your  opinion.  Since  human 
wisdom  cannot  secure  us  from  accidents,  it  is  the  greatest  effort 
of  human  wisdom  to  bear  them  well."  It  is  evident  from  his 
relations  to  the  distinguished  person  he  was  writing  to,  from  the 
frankness  of  his  language,  and  his  subsequent  arrangement  of 
all  his  obligations,  that  this  "  great  misfortune"  must  have  been 
a  disappointment  in  business,  on  which  no  shadow  of  censure 


PAUL   JONES.  25 

could,  without  iniquity,  be  cast.  This  disappointment,  </r  one 
which  was  connected  with  it,  is  probably  referred  to  in  the  letter 
inserted  below,  addressed  to  a  valued  friend,  Mr.  Stuart  Mawey 
of  Tobago,  just  before  Jones  sailed  from  Boston,  fully  commis- 
sioned as  an  officer  of  the  United  States.*  It  must  be  confessed 


*  "  Boston,  4th  May,  1777. 
"  DEAR  SIR, 

"  After  an  unprofitable  suspense  of  twenty  months,  (having  subsisted 
on  fifty  pounds  only  during  that  time,)  when  my  hopes  of  relief  were 
entirely  cut  off,  and  there  remained  no  possibility  of  my  receiving 
wherewithal  to  subsist  upon  from  my  effects  in  your  island,  or  in  Eng- 
land, I  at  last  had  recourse  to  strangers  for  that  aid  and  comfort  which 
was  denied  me  by  those  friends  whom  I  had  intrusted  with  my  all.  The 
good  offices  which  are  rendered  to  persons  in  their  extreme  need,  ought 
to  make  deep  impressions  on  grateful  minds ;  in  my  case  I  feel  the 
truth  of  that  sentiment,  and  am  bound  by  gratitude,  as  well  as  honour, 
to  follow  the  fortunes  of  my  late  benefactors. 

"  I  have  lately  seen  Mr.  Sicaton,  (late  manager  on  the  estates  of  Arch. 
Stuart,  Esq.)  who  informed  me  that  Mr.  Ferguson  had  quitted  Orange 
Valley,  on  being  charged  with  the  unjust  application  of  the  property  of 
his  employers.     I  have  been,  and  am  extremely  concerned  at  this  ac- 
count ;  I  wish  to  disbelieve  it,  although  it  seems  too  much  of  a  piece 
with  the  unfair  advantage  which,  to  all  appearance,  he  took  of  me,  when 
he  left  me  in  exile  for  twenty  months,  a  prey  to  melancholy  and  want, 
and  withheld  my  property,  without  writing  a  word  in  excuse  for  his  con 
duct.     Thus  circumstanced,  I  have  taken  the  liberty  of  sending  you  a 
letter  of  attorney  by  Captain  Cleaveland,  who  undertakes  to  deliver  it 
himself,  as  he  goes  for  Tobago  via  Martinico.     You  have  enclosed  a 
copy  of  a  list  of  debts  acknowledged,  which  I  received  from  Mr.  Fer- 
guson when  I  saw  you  last  at  Orange  Valley.     You  have  also  a  list  of 
debts  contracted  with  me,  together  with  Ferguson's  receipt.     And  there 
remained  a  considerable  property  unsold,  besides  some  best  Madeira 
wine  which  he  had  shipped   for  London.     By  the  state  of  accounts 
which  I  sent  to  England  on  my  arrival  on  this  continent,  there  was  a 
balance  due  to  me  from  the  ship  Betsy  of  909/.  1 5s.  3d.  sterling  ;  and  in 
my  account  with  Robert  Young,  Esq.,  29th  January,  1773,  there  ap- 
peared a  balance  in  my  favour  of  281/.  Is.  &d.  sterling.     These  sums 

3 


26  PAUL   JONES. 

that  the  phrase  "  a  very  great  misfortune,  which  brought  him  into 
North  America,"  cannot  at  this  time  be  very  clearly  explained. 
It  is  enough,  that  no  inferences  can  be  drawn  from  it  prejudicial 
to  his  character.  A  very  natural  irritation  after  the  treatment 
he  had  received,  will  account  for  the  tenor  of  his  expressions  in 
the  commencement  of  the  letter  from  Boston ;  which  an  English 
writer  speaks  of  as  being  "  affecting,  from  their  mixture  of  reck- 
lessness and  feeling."* 

exceed  my  drafts  and  just  debts  together ;  so  that,  if  I  am  fairly  dealt 
with,  I  ought  to  receive  a  considerable  remittance  from  that  quarter. 
You  will  please  to  observe,  that  there  were  nine  pieces  of  coarse  cam- 
lets shipped  at  Cork,  over  and  above  the  quantity  expressed  in  the  bill 
of  lading.  It  seems  the  shippers,  finding  their  mistake,  applied  for  the 
goods ;  and,  as  I  have  been  informed  from  Grenada,  Mr.  Ferguson  laid 
hold  of  this  opportunity  to  propagate  a  report  that  all  the  goods  which 
I  put  into  his  hands  were  the  property  of  that  house  in  Cork.  If  this 
base  suggestion  hath  gained  belief,  it  accounts  for  all  the  neglect  which 
I  have  experienced.  But  however  my  connexions  are  changed,  my 
principles  as  an  honest  man  of  candour  and  integrity  are  the  same  ; 
therefore,  should  there  not  be  a  sufficiency  of  my  property  in  England  to 
answermy  just  debts,  I  declare  that  it  is  my  first  wish  to  make  up  such 
deficiency  from  my  property  in  Tobago  ;  and  were  even  that  also  to  fall 
short,  I  am  ready  and  willing  to  make  full  and  ample  remittances  from 
hence  upon  hearing  from  you  the  true  state  of  my  affairs.  As  I  hope 
my  dear  mother  is  still  alive,  I  must  inform  you  that  I  wish  my  property 
in  Tobago,  or  in  England,  after  paying  my  just  debts,  to  be  applied  for 
her  support.  Your  own  feelings,  my  dear  sir,  make  it  unnecessary  for 
me  to  use  arguments  to  prevail  with  you  on  this  tender  point.  Any 
remittances  which  you  may  be  enabled  to  make,  through  the  hands  of 
my  good  friend  Captain  John  Plaince,  of  Cork,  will  be  faithfully  put 
into  her  hands  ;  she  hatb  several  orphan  grand-children  to  provide  for. 
I  have  made  no  apology  for  giving  you  this  trouble  :  My  situation  will, 
I  trust,  obtain  your  free  pardon. 

"  I  am  always,  with  perfect  esteem,  dear  Sir,  your  very  obliged,  very 
obedient,  and  most  humble  servant, 

"  J.  PAUL  JONES. 
"  STUART  MAWEY,  Esquire,  Tobago." 

*  Life  of  Jones,  from  Sherburne's  Collections,  page  20.     London,  Murray,  1825. 


PAUL   JONES.  27 

His  taking  possession  of  his  brother 'sestate,encouraged  for  the 
time  being  his  imaginary  predilection  for  still  life  ;  and  he  looked 
for  sufficient  remittances  from  those  to  whom  he  had  confided  the 
management  of  his  affairs,  to  enable  him  to  realize  his  vision  of 
tranquil  seclusion  from  the  bustle  of  the  world.  In  the  latter 
hope,  as  has  been  mentioned,  he  was  disappointed ;  and  from 
this  reason,  if  from  no  other,  retirement  must  have  become  in- 
sufferable to  a  young  man  of  his  temper,  at  the  stirring  epoch, 

When  transatlantic  Liberty  arose, 

Not  in  the  sunshine,  and  the  smile  of  heaven, 

But  wrapped  in  whirlwinds,  and  begirt  with  woes. 

In  every  point  of  view  he  was  then  fitted  to  act  the  part  it  fell 
to  his  lot  to  perform  in  the  ensuing  drama.  Nature  had  made 
him  a  hero ;  circumstances  had  prepared  him  to  command  men, 
and  give  an  emphatic  direction  to  the  developement  of  their 
energies ;  and  these  qualifications,  united  with  the  integrity  of 
his  heart  and  mind,  rendered  him  worthy  of  co-working  with 
the  band  of  brave  spirits  who  came  forth  with  free  and  uncor- 
rupted  souls,  and  in  the  power  and  majesty  of  truth,  to  vindicate 
the  rights  which  they  knew  how  to  exercise,  as  well  as  to  assert. 
Though  his  education  as  a  seaman  had  been  principally  in  the 
merchant  service,  he  had  sailed  frequently  in  armed  vessels ; 
and  how  sound  his  opinions  were,  acquired  by  observation  or 
study,  on  the  subject  of  naval  discipline,  will  appear  from  his 
letters  to  the  continental  authorities  ;  while  his  great  practical 
skill  in  all  his  mano3uvres  and  engagements  is  perhaps  more 
admirable  than  his  daring  and  desperate  courage.  One  of  his 
English  biographers*  observes  :  "  It  is  singular  that  during  the 
first  years  of  the  American  navy,  with  the  exception  of  Paul 
Jones,  no  man  of  any  talent  is  to  be  found  directing  its  opera- 
tions. Had  it  not  been  for  the  exertions  of  this  individual,  who 
was  unsupported  by  fortune  or  connexion,  it  is  very  probable 


1  Life  of  Paul  Jones,  from  Sherburae's  Collections.     London,  Murray,  182T>. 


28  PAUL   JONES. 

that  the  American  naval  power  would  have  gradually  disappear- 
ed." These  remarks  were  unquestionably  dictated  as  much  by 
the  spirit  of  national  vanity,  claiming  Jones  as  a  native  born 
British  subject,  as  by  a  natural  partiality  of  the  writer  for  his 
hero.  Jones  had  brave  men  for  his  compeers,  as  jealous  of 
honour  and  of  rank  as  himself,  better  taught  from  the  advan- 
tages of  birth,  not  unskilled  in  their  profession,  and  who  soon 
became  instructed  by  ambition  and  experience.  The  Ameri- 
can naval  force  must  have  been  as  certainly  created  to  a  neces- 
sary extent,  as  the  independence  of  the  colonies,  at  no  distant 
period,  was  inevitable.  But  it  was  among  the  extraordinary 
circumstances,  in  which  the  immediate  designs  of  Providence 
seem  developed  to  the  religious  mind,  that  a  man  of  such  a  tem- 
per, and  with  such  peculiar  advantages,  was  sent  to  aid  America 
on  an  element  in  which  she  was  feeble,  and  her  foe,  in  her  fond 
conceit,  omnipotent ;  a  man,  who  was  able,  with  a  force  seem- 
ingly contemptible,  to  strike  terror  along  the  coast  of  the  fast- 
anchored  isle,  notwithstanding  her  thousands  of  wooden  walls, 
and  to  give  to  the  American  flag  in  foreign  seas,  a  reputation 
which  it  has  never  lost. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  year  1775,  as  will  appear  from  one 
of  his  letters,  his  immediate  pecuniary  resources,  from  the 
causes  he  mentions,  had  almost  entirely  failed  him,  and  for  the 
two  years  following,  he  lived,  as  he  expresses  it,  "  upon  fifty 
pounds."  Mere  necessity,  however,  could  not  have  determined 
his  election  of  an  occupation,  when  he  accepted  a  commission 
from  the  Continental  Congress.  A  man  who  had  begun  life 
with  nothing  but  "  health  and  his  good  spirits"  for  his  patri- 
mony, who,  while  a  mere  boy,  had  known  how  to  obtain  profit- 
able employments  of  much  responsibility,  and  who  was  now  in 
the  incipient  prime  of  mental  and  bodily  vigour,  could  have 
been  at  no  loss  in  investing  the  capital  of  his  abilities,  his  credit, 
and  his  "  fifty  pounds,"  in  many  speculations,  which  must,  to 
ordinary  minds  at  this  epoch,  have  seemed  far  more  promising 
than  the  cause  of  the  colonists.  But  his  heart  was  with  them, 
and  all  his  sympathies,  and  even  prejudices,  were  in  unison 


PAUL   JONES.  29 

with  theirs.  Since  the  age  of  thirteen,  when  he  first  sa  «r  it,  as 
he  himself  declares,  America  had  been  the  country  of  his  fond 
election.  In  it,  he  had  laid  the  scene  of  his  romance  of  re- 
tirement ;  and  he  had  now  no  other  home  save  the  ocean.  His 
interest,  so  far  as  the  strong  appetite  for  renown,  to  be  won  by 
danger,  was  concerned,  was  also  best  served  by  embarking  in 
the  revolutionary  cause  ;  for  what  promotion  could  he  have  ob 
I  ained,  without  money  or  friends,  in  the  navy  of  Great  Britain  ? 
But  so  far  as  mere  servile  and  sordid  considerations  were  in 
.question,  the  world  of  adventure  offered  to  him  a  wide  market, 
in  which  much  safer  and  cheaper  bargains  might  be  made, 
.by  on$  who  had  acquired  so  much  skill  in  the  traffic.  It  was 
principle,  and  not  necessity  nor  accident,  which,  in  connexion 
with  the  love  of  glory,  induced  him  to  embark  in  the  cause  of 
liberty. 

This  point  has  been  dwelt  on  more  at  large,  because  the  last 
English  compiler  of  his  memoirs,  with  very  good  intentions, 
speaks  of  it  in  an  equivocal  manner,  in  his  analysis  of  Paul's 
motives.  He  also  enters  into  an  unnecessary  apology  for  his 
consenting  to  bear  arms  against  the  mother  country.  The  fol- 
lowing remarks,  made  by  him,  are,  however,  worthy  of  being 
quoted  here : 

"  Though  in  the  heat  of  a  struggle,  which,  from  its  very  nature, 
was,  like  the  feuds  of  the  nearest  relatives,  singularly  rancorous 
and  bitter,  Jones  was  branded  as  a  traitor  and  a  felon,  and  after 
his  most  brilliant  action,  his  capture  of  the  Serapis,  formally 
denounced  by  the  British  ambassador  at  the  Hague  as  a  rebel 
and  a  pirate  according  to  the  laws  of  war,*  it  must  be  remem- 
bered that  he  bore  this  stigma  in  common  with  the  best  and 
greatest  of  his  contemporaries — with  Franklin  and  Washing- 
ton ;  which  last  had  actually  borne  arms  in  the  service  of  the 
king  of  England.  The  memory  of  Paul  Jones  now  needs  little 


*  Memorial  of  Sir  Joseph  Yorke  to  the  States-General,  dated  the  Hague,  8th  Octo- 
ber, 1779. 


30  PAUL   JONES. 

vindication  for  this  important  step.     After  the  peace  he  enjoyed 
the  esteem  and  private  friendship  of  Englishmen  who  might 
have  forgiven  the  most  imbittered  political  hostility,  but  never 
could  have  overlooked  a  taint  on  personal  honour.     Of  this  num- 
ber was  the  Earl  of  Wemyss,  whc  after  the  peace  endeavoured 
to  promote  the  views  of  Jones  on  various  occasions.     He  him- 
self, however,  discovers  a  lurking  consciousness  of  having  incur- 
red, if  not  of  meriting,  suspicion  on  this  delicate  ground.     This 
is  chiefly  displayed  by  his  eloquent  though  rather  frequent  as- 
sertions of  purity  of  motive,  superiority  to  objects  of  sordid  in- 
terest, and  disinterested  zeal  for  the  cause,  now  of  America, 
now  of  human  nature,  as  was  best  adapted  to  the  supposed  in- 
clinations of  his  correspondents.     In  ordinary  circumstances, 
much  of  this  might  have  appeared  uncalled  for ;  but  the  situa- 
tion of  Jones  was  in  many  respects  peculiar  both  as  a  native- 
born  Briton,  and  as  a  man  of  obscure  origin,  jealous — and  par- 
donably so— of  his  independence   and   dignity  of  character. 
Somewhat  of  the  heroic  vaunting  which  marks  other  parts  of 
his  correspondence  appears  incident  to  the  enthusiastic  tempe- 
rament of  many  great  naval  commanders.    How  would  Nelson's 
tone  of  confident  prediction,  and  boasts  of  prowess,  have  sound- 
ed from  the  lips  of  an  inferior  man  ?    In  any  other  than  him 
self,  the  customary  language  of  Drake  would  have  been  reck- 
oned that  of  an  insolent  braggart." 

The  English  editor  is  right  in  referring  to  the  obscurity  of 
Paul's  origin,  and  the  consequent  nature  of  his  early  education, 
as  one  cause  of  the  quaintness  and  inartificial  "  heroic  vaunt- 
ing" of  style,  which  often  strikes  us  in  his  letters.  The  example 
he  produces  of  other  great  men,  who  occasionally  exhibited  the 
same  bad  taste,  are  illustrious  and  pertinent.  But  as  to  any 
squeamishness  which  Paul  may  have  felt  or  expressed,  on  the 
score  of  his  being  born  011  the  soil,  as  well  as  under  the  alle- 
giance of  Great  Britain,  we  find  no  evidence  in  his  correspon- 
dence which  is  not  directly  against  the  suggestion.  He  fought 
for  his  adopted  country,  the  land  of  his  friendships  and  affec- 
tion ;  and  his  fame  should  not  be  tarnished  without  cause,  by 


PAUL  JONES.  31 

supposing  that  any  compunctious  visitings  disturbed  him  in  his 
career,  other  than  those  natural  to  the  best  and  bravest  men 
who  have  served  in  the  cause  of  human  freedom.  Writing  to 
Baron  Vander  Capellan,  some  years  after  the  conflict  began, 
he  says,  in  a  spirit  of  bitterness,  provoked  by  his  being  stigma- 
tized as  a  pirate,  rebel,  &c.  in  the  British  prints  : 

"  I  was  indeed  born  in  Britain  ;  but  I  do  not  inherit  the  dege- 
nerate spirit  of  that  fallen  nation,  which  I  at  once  lament  and 
despise.  It  is  far  beneath  me  to  reply  to  their  hireling  invec- 
tives. They  are  strangers  to  the  inward  approbation  that 
greatly  animates  and  rewards  the  man  who  draws  his  sword 
only  in  support  of  the  dignity  of  freedom.  America  has  been 
the  country  of  my  fond  election  from  the  age  of  thirteen,  when 
I  first  saw  it.  I  had  the  honour  to  hoist  with  my  own  hands  the 
flag  of  freedom,  the  first  time  it  was  displayed  on  the  Delaware ; 
and  I  have  attended  it  with  veneration  ever  since,  on  the 
ocean." 

At  the  time  when  Paul  settled,  (or  more  properly,  supposed 
he  meant  to  settle,)  in  Virginia,  it  would  seem  that  he  as- 
sumed the  additional  surname  of  Jones.  Previous  to  this  date, 
his  letters  are  signed  John  Paul.  We  are  left  to  conjecture 
the  reason  of  this  arbitrary  change.  His  relations  were  never 
able  to  assign  one ;  there  is  no  allusion  to  the  circumstance  in 
the  manuscripts  which  he  left,  and  tradition  is  silent  on  the 
subject.  It  was,  however,  a  caprice  by  no  means  singular  in  a 
sea-faring  man.  It  is  mentioned  in  the  biographical  sketch 
written  for  the  Edinburgh  Encyclopaedia,  by  Dr.  Duncan,  of 
Scotland,  that  the  custom  of  taking  the  father's  Christian  name 
as  a  patronymic,  was  not  prevalent  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of 
Paul's  birthplace.  But  it  was  common  in  Wales,  the  Isle  of 
Man,  and  other  parts,  with  which  he  was  as  familiarly  acquaint- 
ed. It  does  not  seem  to  be,  in  the  language  of  logicians, 
"  drawing  a  long  inference,"  to  suppose,  that  in  adopting  a  coun- 
try where  he  meant  to  establish  his  household  gods,  and  be  the 
father  of  his  own  line,  he  chose  to  assume  a  new  name,  which 
he  had  such  warrant  for  doing,  and  which  should  be  his  own, 


32  PAUL   JONES. 

and  that  of  his  descendants.  His  retaining  that  by  which  he 
had  been  always  known,  proves  that  he  did  not  consider  it  to 
have  been  sullied.  It  is  only  because  calumny  and  invention 
have  been  busy  with  the  topic,  that  it  seems  proper  to  suggest 
a  plausible  explanation  for  this  change. 

It  is  not  within  the  province  of  this  narrative  to  sketch  the 
early  history  of  the  American  navy,  or  its  operations  during  the 
revolutionary  war,  except  where  Jones  was  connected  with 
them.  Of  these  he  is  his  own  historian.  With  the  view  of  cut- 
ting off  the  supplies  sent  in  store  ships  to  Boston,  then  in  pos- 
session of  the  British,  and  in  a  state  of  blockade, — of  obtaining 
powder  and  the  munitions  of  war,  which  were  not  to  be  had  in  the 
colonies, — and  of  retaliating  for  depredations  committed  by  Bri- 
tish emissaries  along  the  coast,  the  General  Court  of  Massa- 
chusetts on  the  13th  November,  1775,  passed  an  act  authorizing 
letters  of  marque  and  reprisal  to  be  issued  against  ships  infest- 
ing the  sea-coast  of  America,  and  elected  courts  to  try  and  con- 
demn such  as  should  be  captured.  General  Washington,  as 
Commander  in  Chief,  gave  commissions  to  a  number  of  vessels, 
to  intercept  the  supplies  intended  for  Boston.  Privateers 
swarmed  in  the  Bay  of  Boston,  and  off  the  neighbouring  sea- 
coast.  Instances  of  gallant  and  ingenious  enterprises  were  nu- 
merous, and  the  names  of  those  by  whom  they  were  conducted 
will  be  entitled  to  a  place  in  our  national  history.  On  the  13th 
of  December,  1775,  the  Continental  Congress  adopted  a  report 
of  the  Committee  appointed  to  devise  ways  and  means  for  fit- 
ting out  a  naval  armament ;  in  which  it  was  recommended  that 
thirteen  frigates  should  be  got  ready  for  sea;  five  to  be  of 
thirty-two  guns,  five  of  twenty-eight,  and  three  of  twenty-four. 
They  also  commissioned  a  small  fleet  collected  in  the  Dela- 
ware to  cruise  against  the  enemy,  and  passed  the  following 
resolution : 

"  In  Congress,  22nd  Dec.  1775. 
"  Resolved,  that  the  following  naval  officers  be  appointed  : 


PAUL  JONES.  33 

Ezek.  Hopkins,  Esq.  Commander  in  Chief  of  the  fleet. 
Dudley  Saltonstall,  Captain  of  the  Alfred. 
Abraham  Whipple,       do.  Columbus. 

Nicholas  Biddle,  do.  Andrew  Doria. 

John  B.  Hopkins,          do.  Cabot. 

"  1st   Lieutenants,  John    Paul   Jones,  Rhodes   Arnold, 
Stansbury,  Hersted  Hacker,  Jonathan  Pitcher. 

"  2d  Lieutenants,  Benjamin  Seabury,  Joseph  Olney,  Elisha 
Warner,  Thomas  Weaver,  —  M'Dougall. 

"  3d  Lieutenants,  John  Fanning,  Ezekiel  Burroughs,  Da- 
niel Vaughan. 

"  Resolved,  that  the  pay  of  the  Commander  in  Chief  of  the 
fleet  be  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  dollars  per  month." 

To  this  small  fleet  was  added  the  sloop  Providence,  the  com- 
mand of  which  Jones  declined  for  the  reasons  stated  in  his  nar- 
rative, which  we  shall  presently  follow.  The  force  consisted  of 
the  Alfred,  Commodore  Hopkins,  30  guns  and  300  men  ;  Co- 
lumbus, Whipple,  28  guns  and  300  men ;  Andrew  Doria,  Bid- 
die,  16  guns  and  200  men  ;  Sebastian  Cabot,  Hopkins,  Jun.  14 
guns  and  200  men ;  and  the  Providence,  Hazard,  12  guns  and 
150  men.  The  flag  of  America  was  hoisted  by  Jones,  as  he 
records,  being  the  first  time  it  was  displayed,  on  board  of  the  Al- 
fred, of  which  he  was  first-lieutenant.  He  does  not  mention  the 
date  of  this  transaction,  which  it  would  be  extremely  interesting 
to  ascertain  ;  nor  has  the  present  compiler  been  able  to  fix  it. 
His  commission  to  act  as  lieutenant  bore  date  on  the  7th  De- 
cember. The  squadron  was  originally  destined  to  act  against 
LordDunmore,  who  was  committing  acts  of  outrage  and  depre- 
dation along  the  coast  of  Virginia.  The  navigation  of  the 
Delaware  was,  however,  interrupted  by  the  ice,  and  the  fleet 
did  not  leave  Cape  Henlopen  until  the  17th  of  February,  1776. 
The  most  succinct  and  clear  account  of  this  period  of  his  ser- 
vice is  given  by  Jones  in  the  commencement  of  a  Journal,  drawn 
up  at  the  request  of  the  king  of  France,  and  read  by  that  un- 
fortunate monarch  when  he  was  a  prisoner.  It  is  as  follows 

4 


34 


PAUL   JONES. 


"  When  Congress  thought  fit  to  equip  a  naval  force  towards1 
the  conclusion  of  the  year  1775,  '  for  the  defence  of  American 
liberty,  and  for  repelling  every  hostile  invasion  thereof?  it  was  a 
very  difficult  matter  to  find  men  fitly  qualified  for  officers,  and 
willing  to  embark  in  the  ships  and  vessels  that  were  then  put 
into  commission.  The  American  navy  at  first  was  no  more  than 
the  ships  Alfred  and  Columbus,  the  brigantines  Andrew  Doria, 
and  Cabot,  and  the  sloop  Providence.*  A  commander  in  chief  of 
the  fleet  was  appointed  ;  and  the  Captains  Saltonstall,  Whipple, 
Biddle,  and  Hopkins,  were  named  for  the  ships  and  brigantines. 
A  captain's  commission  for  the  Providence,  [bought,  or  to  be 
bought,  about  the  time,  from  Captain  Whipple,]t  which  Mr.  Jo- 
seph Hewes  of  the  Marine  Committee  offered  to  his  friend  Mr 
John  Paul  Jones,  was  not  accepted,  because  Mr.  Jones  had 
never  sailed  in  a  sloop,  and  had  then  no  idea  of  the  declaration 
of  independence  that  took  place  the  next  year.  It  was  his  early 
wish  to  do  his  best  for  the  cause  of  America,  which  he  considered 
as  the  cause  of  human  nature.  He  could  have  no  object  of  self- 
interest  ;  and  having  then  no  prospect  that  the  American  navy 
would  soon  become  an  established  service,  that  rank  was  the 
most  acceptable  to  him  by  which  he  could  be  the  most  useful  in 
that  moment  of  public  calamity.  There  were  three  classes  of 
lieutenants  appointed,  and  Mr.  Jones  was  appointed^  the  first  of 
the  first-lieutenants,  which  placed  him  next  in  command  to  the 
four  captains  already  mentioned.  This  commission  under  the 
united  colonies  is  dated  the  7th  day  of  December,  1775,  as  first- 
lieutenant  of  the  Alfred.  On  board  of  that  ship,  before  Phila- 
delphia, Mr.  Jones  hoisted  the  flag  of  America  with  his  own 
hands,  the  first  time  it  was  ever  displayed,  as  the  commander  in 
chief  embarked  on  board  the  Alfred.  All  the  commissions  for 


*  In  the  MSS.  copy  before  me  several  corrections  occur  in  Jones'  own  hand  writing 
Some  are  not  material.  In  the  passage  above  he  has  overlined  "  Ezek.  Hopkins,  Esq 
was  appointed,  &c." 

t  The  words  in  brackets  are  erased  in  the  copy  above  mentioned. 

f  "  Commissioned"  as  altered  by  Jones. 


PAUL   JONES.  35 

the  Alfred  were  dated  before  the  commissions  for  the  Columbus, 
«fcc.  All  the  time  this  little  squadron  was  fitting  and  manning, 
Mr.  Jones  superintended  the  affairs  of  the  Alfred ;  and  as  Cap- 
tain Suit  <  nisi  all  did  not  appear  at  Philadelphia,  the  commander 
in  chief  told  Mr.  Jones  he  should  command  that  ship.  A  day 
or  two  before  the  squadron  sailed  from  Philadelphia,  Inanned 
and  fit  for  sea,  Captain  Saltonstall  appeared,  and  took  com- 
mand of  the  Alfred.  The  object  of  the  first  expedition  was 
against  Lord  Dunmore  in  Virginia.  But  instead  of  proceeding 
immediately  on  that  service,  the  squadron  was  hauled  to  the 
wharfs  at  Reedy  Island,  and  lay  there  for  six  weeks  frozen  up. 
Here  Mr.  Jones  and  the  other  lieutenants  stood  the  deck,  watch 
and  watch,  night  and  day,  to  prevent  desertion ;  and  they  lost 
no  man  from  the  Alfred.  On  the  17th  of  February,  1776,  the 
squadron  sailed  from  the  Bay  of  Delaware,  having  been  joined 
the  day  before  by  a  small  sloop  and  a  very  small  schooner  from 
Baltimore.  On  the  1st  of  March  the  squadron  anchored  at 
Abaco,  one  of  the  Bahama  Islands,  and  carried  in  there  two 
sloops  belonging  to  New  Providence.  Some  persons  on  board 
the  sloops,  informed  that  a  quantity  of  powder  and  warlike 
stores  might  be  taken  in  the  forts  of  New  Providence.  An  ex- 
pedition was  determined  on  against  that  island.  It  was  resolv- 
ed to  embark  the  marines  on  board  the  two  sloops.  They  were 
to  remain  below  deck  until  the  sloops  had  anchored  in  the  har- 
bour close  to  the  forts,  and  they  were  then  to  land  and  take  pos- 
session. There  was  not  a  single  soldier  in  the  island  to  oppose 
them ;  therefore  the  plan  would  have  succeeded,  and  not  only 
the  public  stores  might  have  been  secured,  but  a  considerable 
contribution  might  have  been  obtained  as  a  ransom  for  the  town 
and  island,  had  not  the  whole  squadron  appeared  off  the  harbour 
in  the  morning,  instead  of  remaining  out  of  sight  till  after  the 
sloops  had  entered  and  the  marines  secured  the  forts.  On  the 
appearance  of  the  squadron  the  signal  of  alarm  was  fired,  so 
that  it  was  impossible  to  think  of  crossing  the  bar.  The  com- 
mander in  chief  proposed  to  go  round  the  west  end  of  the  island, 


36  PAUL   JONES. 

and  endeavour  to  march  the  marines  up  and  get  behina  ^he 
town  ;  but  this  could  never  have  been  effected.  The  islanders 
would  have  had  time  to  collect ;  there  was  no  fit  anchorage  for 
the  squadron,  nor  road  from  that  part  of  the  island  to  the  town. 
Mr.  Jones  finding  by  the  Providence  pilots  that  the  squadron 
might  anchor  under  a  key  three  leagues  to  windward  of  the  har- 
bour, gave  this  account  to  the  commander  in  chief,  who  object- 
ing to  the  dependence  on  the  pilots,  Mr.  Jones  undertook  to 
carry  the  Alfred  safe  in.  He  took  the  pilot  with  him  to  the 
fore-topmast-head,  from  whence  they  could  clearly  see  every 
danger,  and  the  squadron  anchored  safe.  The  marines,  with 
two  vessels  to  cover  their  landing,  were  immediately  sent  in  by 
the  east  passage.  The  commander  in  chief  promised  to  touch 
no  private  property.  The  inhabitants  abandoned  the  forts,  and 
the  governor,  finding  he  must  surrender  the  island,  embarked 
all  the  powder  in  two  vessels,  and  sent  them  away  in  the  night. 
This  was  foreseen,  and  might  have  been  prevented,  by  sending 
the  two  brigantines  to  lie  off  the  bar.  The  squadron  entered 
the  harbour  of  New  Providence,  and  sailed  from  thence  the  17th 
of  March,  having  embarked  the  cannon,  &c.  that  was  found  in 
the  fort.  In  the  night  of  the  9th  of  April,  on  the  return  of  the 
squadron  from  the  Providence  expedition,  the  American  arms 
by  sea  were  first  tried  in  an  action  with  the  Glasgow,  a  British 
frigate  of  24  guns,  off  Block  Island.  Both  the  Alfred  and 
Columbus  mounted  two  batteries.  The  Alfred  mounted  30, 
the  Columbus  28  guns.  The  first  batteiy  was  so  near  the 
water  as  to  be  fit  for  nothing  except  in  a  harbour  or  a  very 
smooth  sea.  The  sea  was  at  the  time  perfectly  smooth.  Mr. 
Jones  was  stationed  between  decks  to  command  the  Alfred's 
first  battery,  which  was  well  served  whenever  the  guns  could  be 
brought  to  bear  on  the  enemy,  as  appears  by  the  official  letter 
of  the  commander  in  chief  giving  an  account  of  that  action. 
Mr.  Jones  therefore  did  his  duty ;  and  as  he  had  no  direction 
whatever,  either  of  the  general  disposition  of  the  squadron,  or 
the  sails  and  helm  of  the  Alfred,  he  can  stand  charged  with  no 


PAUL   JONES.  i/ 

part  of  the  disgrace  of  that  night.*  The  squadron  steered 
directly  for  New  London,  and  entered  that  port  two  days  after 
the  action.  Here  General  Washington  lent  the  squadron  200 
men,  as  was  thought,  for  some  enterprise.  The  squadron,  how- 
ever, stole  quietly  round  to  Rhode  Island,  and  up  the  river  to 
Providence.  Here  a  court-martial  was  held  for  the  trial  of 
Captain  Whipple,  for  not  assisting  in  the  action  with  the  Glas- 
gow.t  Another  court-martial  was  held  for  the  trial  of  Cap- 
tain Hazard,  who  had  been  appointed  captain  of  the  sloop 
Providence  at  Philadelphia,  some  time  after  Mr.  Jones  had  re- 
fused that  command.  Captain  Hazard  was  broke,  and  render- 
ed incapable  of  serving  in  the  navy.  The  next  day,  the  10th 
of  May,  1776,  Mr.  Jones  was  ordered  by  the  commander  in  chief 
to  take  command  '  as  captain  of  the  Providence?  This  proves 
that  Mr.  Jones  did  his  duty  on  the  Providence  expedition.  As 
the  commander  in  chief  had  in  his  hands  no  blank-commission, 
this  appointment  was  written  and  signed  on  the  back  of  the 
commission  that  Mr.  Jones  had  received  at  Philadelphia  the  7th 
of  December,  1775.  Captain  Jones  had  orders  to  receive  on 
board  the  Providence  the  soldiers  that  had  been  borrowed  from 
General  Washington,  and  to  carry  them  to  New  York,  there 
enlist  as  many  seamen  as  he  could,  and  then  return  to  New 
London,  to  take  in  from  the  hospital  all  the  seamen  that  had 
been  left  there  by  the  squadron,  and  were  recovered,  and  carry 
them  to  Providence.  Captain  Jones  soon  performed  these  ser- 
vices ;  and  having  hove  down  the  sloop  and  partly  fitted  her  for 
war  at  Providence,  he  received  orders  from  the  commander  in 
chief,  dated  Rhode  Island,  June  10th,  1776,  to  come  immedi- 
ately down  to  take  a  sloop  then  in  sight,  armed  for  war,  belong- 
ing to  the  enemy's  navy.  Captain  Jones  obeyed  orders  with 
alacrity;  but  the  enemy  had  disappeared  before  he  reached 


*  In  the  margin,  in  Jones'  hand  writing :  "  It  is  for  the  commander  in  chief  and  the 
captains,  to  answer  for  the  escape  of  the  Glasgow/1 

t  He  excused  himself  because  "  the  firing  of  the  ships  engaged  had  killed  the  wind." 
Marginal  note  by  Jones. 


38  PAUL   JONES. 

Newport.  On  the  13th  of  June,  1776,  Captain  Jones  received 
orders,  dated  that  day  at  Newport,  Rhode  Island,  from  the  com- 
mander in  chief,  to  proceed  to  Newburyport  to  take  under  con- 
voy some  vessels  bound  for  Philadelphia ;  but  first  to  convoy 
Lieutenant  Hacker  in  the  Fly,  with  a  cargo  of  cannon,  into  the 
sound  for  New  York,  and  to  convoy  some  vessels  back  from 
Stonington  to  the  entrance  of  Newport.  In  performing  these 
last  services,  Captain  Jones  found  great  difficulty  from  the 
enemy's  frigates,  then  cruising  round  Block  Island,  with  which 
he  had  several  rencontres  ;  in  one  of  which  he  saved  a  brigantine 
that  was  a  stranger,  from  Hispaniola,  closely  pursued  by  the 
Cerberus,  and  laden  with  public  military  stores.  That  brigan- 
tine was  afterwards  purchased  by  the  Continent,  and  called  the 
Hampden.  Captain  Jones  received  orders  from  the  commander 
in  chief  to  proceed  for  Boston  instead  of  Newburyport.  At 
Boston  he  was  detained  a  considerable  time  by  the  backward- 
ness of  the  agent.  He  arrived  with  his  convoy  from  Boston, 
safe  in  the  Delaware,  the  1st  of  August,  1776.  This  service 
was  performed  while  the  enemy  were  arriving  daily  at  Sandy 
Hook  from  Halifax  and  England,  [under  the  escort  and  pro- 
tection of  Lord  Howe,]*  and  Captain  Jones  saw  several  of  their 
ships  of  war  [which  he  had  the  address  to  avoid.]  Captain 
Jones  received  a  captain's  commission  [under  the  United  States 
of  America,]  from  the  president  of  Congress  the  8th  of  August.t 


*  Interlined  by  Jones. 

t  The  Commission  of  Jones  was  made  out,  according  to  Mr  Sherburnc,  on  the  same 
day  on  which  the  relative  rank  of  the  Captains  was  established  by  Congress.  It  was 
as  follows : 

"IN  CONGRESS. 

"  The  Delegates  of  Hie  United  States  of  New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts  Bay,  Rhode 
Island,  Connecticut,  New  York,  Neio  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Delaware,  Maryland,  Vir- 
ginia, North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  and  Georgia,  To 

"  JOHN  PAUL  JONES,  ESQ. 

"  WE,  reposing  especial  trust  and  confidence  in  your  patriotism,  valour,  conduct, 
and  fidelity,  DO,  by  these  Presents,  constitute  and  appoint  you  to  be  Captain  in  the 
navy  of  the  United  States  of  North  America,  fitted  out  for  the  defence  of  American 


PAUL  JONES.  30 

"  It  was  proposed  to  Captain  Jones  by  the  Marine  Committee 
of  Congress  to  go  to  Connecticut,  to  command  the  brigantine 
Hampden ;  but  he  choosing  rather  to  remain  in  the  sloop  Pro- 
vidence, had  orders  to  go  out  on  a  cruise  against  the  enemy 
"  for  six  weeks,  [or]  two  or  three  months."  He  was  not  limited 
to  any  particular  station  or  service.  He  left  the  Delaware  the 
21st  of  August,  and  arrived  at  Rhode  Island  on  the  7th  of  Oc- 
tober, 1776.  Captain  Jones  had  only  seventy  men  when  he 
sailed  from  the  Delaware,  and  the  Providence  mounted  only  12 
four-pounders.  Near  the  latitude  of  Bermudas  he  had  a  very 
narrow  escape  from  the  enemy's  frigate  the  Solebay,  after  a 
chase  [and  an  engagement]  for  six  hours  within  cannon-shot, 
and  considerable  part  of  that  time  within  pistol-shot.  After- 
wards, near  the  Isle  of  Sable,  Captain  Jones  had  a  running  fight 
with  the  enemy's  frigate  the  Milford ;  and  the  firing  between 
them  lasted  from  ten  in  the  morning  till  after  sunset.  The  day 
after  this  rencontre,  Captain  Jones  entered  the  harbour  of 
Canso,  where  he  recruited  several  men,  took  the  tories'  flags, 
destroyed  all  the  fishery,  burned  the  shipping,  &c.  and  sailed 
again  the  next  morning  on  an  expedition  against  the  Island  of 
Madame.  He  made  two  descents  at  the  principal  ports  of  that 
island  at  the  same  time ;  surprised,  burned,  and  destroyed  all 


Liberty,  and  for  repelling  every  hostile  invasion  thereof.  You  are  therefore  carefully 
and  diligently  to  discharge  the  duty  of  Captain,  by  doing  and  performing  all  manner  of 
things  thereunto  belonging.  And  we  do  strictly  charge  and  require  all  officers,  marines, 
and  seamen  under  your  command  to  be  obedient  to  your  orders  as  Captain.  And  you 
are  to  observe  and  follow  such  orders  and  directions  from  time  to  time,  as  you  shall  re- 
ceive from  this  or  a  future  Congress  of  the  United  States,  or  committee  of  Congress  for 
that  purpose  appointed,  or  commander  in  chief  for  the  time  being  of  the  navy  of  the 
United  States,  or  any  other  your  superior  officer,  according  to  the  rules  and  discipline  of 
War,  the  usage  of  the  sea,  and  the  instructions  herewith  given  you,  in  pursuance  of 
the  trust  reposed  in  you.  This  Commission  to  continue  in  force,  until  revoked  by  this 
or  a  future  Congress. 

"  Dated  at  Philadelphia,  October  10th,  1776. 
"  By  order  of  the  Congress, 

"  JOHN  HANCOCK,  President 
41  Attest,  CHARLES  THOMPSON,  Secretary." 


40  PAUL   JONES 

their  shipping,  and  the  fishery,  though  the  place  abounded  with 
men,  and  they  had  arms.  All  this,  from  the  Delaware  to  Rhode 
Island,  was  performed  in  six  weeks  and  five  days ;  in  which  time 
Captain  Jones  made  sixteen  prizes,  besides  a  great  number  of 
small  vessels  and  fishery  which  he  destroyed.  The  commander  in 
chief  of  the  navy  was  at  Rhode  Island,  who,  in  consequence  of  the 
information  given  him  by  Captain  Jones,  adopted  an  expedition 
against  the  coal  fleet  of  Cape  Breton  and  the  fishery,  as  well  as 
to  relieve  a  number  of  Americans  from  the  coal  mines,  where 
they  were  compelled  to  labour  by  the  enemy.  The  Alfred  had 
remained  idle  ever  since  the  Providence  expedition,  and  was 
without  men.  It  was  proposed  to  employ  that  ship,  the  brigan- 
tine  Hampden,  and  sloop  Providence,  on  this  expedition,  under 
the  command  of  Captain  Jones,  who  had  orders  given  him  for 
that  purpose  on  the  22d  October,  1776,  and  then  removed  from 
the  sloop  Providence  to  command  the  ship  Alfred.  Finding  he 
could  not  enlist  a  sufficient  number  of  men  for  the  three  sail  be- 
fore the  season  would  be  lost,  Captain  Jones  determined  to  leave 
the  sloop  Providence  behind;  but  Captain  Hacker  ran  the 
Hampden  upon  a  ledge  of  rocks  on  the  27th,  and  knocked  off 
her  keel,  which  obliged  Captain  Jones  to  remove  him  into  the 
sloop  Providence.  The  Alfred  and  Providence  sailed  together 
on  this  expedition  the  2d  of  November,  1776,  Captain  Jones 
having  only  140  men  on  his  muster-roll  for  the  Alfred,  though 
that  ship  had  235  men  when  she  left  the  Delaware.  Captain 
Jones*  anchored  for  the  night  at  Tarpawling  Cove,  near  Nan- 
tucket.  Finding  there  a  privateer  schooner  belonging  to  Rhode 
Island  inward-bound,  he  sent  his  boat  to  search  for  deserters 
from  the  navy.  His  officers  found  four  deserters  carefully  con- 
cealed on  board.  They  were  taken  on  board  the  Alfred,  with 
a  few  other  seamen,  agreeably  to  orders  from  the  commander  in 


*  [Passed  between  the  enemies'  frigates  at  Block  Island  and  the  shore,  and  anchor- 
ed for  the  night  at  Tarpawling  Cove,  near  Nantucket,  because  daylight  was  necessary 
to  pass  through  the  shoals.]  Corrected  Inj  Jones. 


PAtTL  JONES.  41 

chief.  The  concerned  in  the  privateer  brought  an  action  against 
Captain  Jones  for  lOjOOOJ.  damages,  and  the  commander  in 
chief  had  the  politeness  not  to  support  him.  Captain  Jones 
proceeded  on  his  expedition.  Off  Louisbourg  he  took  a  brig 
with  a  rich  cargo  of  dry  goods,  a  snow  with  a  cargo  of  fish,  and 
a  large  ship  called  the  Mellish,  bound  for  Canada,  armed  for 
war,  and  laden  with  soldiers'  clothing.  The  day  after  taking 
these  prizes,  (the  18th  November,)  the  snow  fell,  and  the  wind 
blew  fresh  off  Cape  Breton.  To  prevent  separation,  and  not 
from  the  violence  of  the  weather,  Captain  Jones  made  the  signal 
to  lay  to,  which  was  obeyed ;  but  as  soon  as  the  night  began, 
Captain  Hacker  bore  away.  He  made  shift  to  arrive  at  Rhode 
Island  a  day  or  two  before  the  place  was  taken  by  the  enemy. 
Captain  Jones  ordered  his  prizes,  the  brigantine  and  the  snow, 
to  steer  for  American  ports ;  but  determined  not  to  lose  sight  of 
the  Mellish,  unless  in  case  of  necessity.  Captain  Jones,  after 
that  little  gale  and  some  contrary  winds,  fell  in  with  Canso,  and 
sent  his  boats  in  to  destroy  a  fine  transport  that  lay  aground  in 
the  entrance,  laden  with  Irish  provision.  The  party  burnt  also 
the  oil-warehouse,  and  destroyed  the  materials  for  the  whale 
and  cod  fishery. 

"  Off  Louisbourg,  on  the  24th  November,  he  took  three  fine 
ships  out  of  the  coal-fleet,  then  bound  for  New  York,  under  the 
convoy  of  the  frigate  Flora,  that  would  have  been  in  sight  had 
the  fog  been  dispersed.  Two  days  after  this,  Captain  Jones 
took  a  strong  letter-of-marque  ship  with  a  rich  cargo,  from 
Liverpool.  He  had  now  a  hundred  and  fifty  prisoners  on 
board  the  Alfred,  and  a  great  part  of  his  water  and  provision 
was  consumed.  He  found  by  his  prisoners  that  the  harbour  at 
the  coal-mines  was  frozen  up,  and  necessity  obliged  him  to  seek 
a  hospitable  port  with  the  five  prize-ships  under  his  convoy, 
No  separation  took  place  till  the  7th  of  December,  on  the  edge 
of  St.  George's  Bank,  where  Captain  Jones  again  fell  in  with 
the  Milford  frigate.  Captain  Jones  [drew  the  whole  attention 
of  the  enemy  towards  the  Alfred,  and  thereby]  had  the  address 
[by  running  the  greatest  risk  himself,]  to  save  all  his  prizes  e^ 

5 


42  PAUL  JONE8. 

cept  one,  (the  letter-of-marque  from  Liverpool,)  and  that  one 
would  not  have  been  taken,  had  not  the  prize-master,  who  was 
three  leagues  to  windward,  foolishly  run  down  under  the  Mil- 
ford's  lee.  The  Mellish  arrived  safe  with  the  clothing  at  Dart- 
mouth, in  consequence  of  orders  from  Captain  Jones,  to  pass 
within  Nantucket  shoals ;  and  Captain  Jones,  after  meeting 
with  much  tempestuous  weather  arrived  at  Boston  the  15th 
December,  1776,  having  only  two  days'  water  and  provision 
left.  The  news  of  the  supply  of  clothing  reached  General 
Washington's  army  just  before  he  re-crossed  the  Delaware,  and 
took  the  enemy's  garrison  at  Trenton.  By  a  letter  from  the 
commander  in  chief  of  the  Navy,  dated  on  board  the  Warren, 
at  Providence,  January  the  14th,  1777,  Captain  Jones  was  su- 
perseded in  the  command  of  the  Alfred,  in  favour  of  Captain 
Hinman,  who  said  he  brought  a  commission  from  Congress  to 
supersede  that  of  Captain  Jones.  On  the  21st  of  January,  1777, 
this  drew  from  Captain  Jones  a  letter  to  the  Marine  Committee 
of  Congress,  stating  his  hopes  that  Congress  would  not  so  far 
overlook  his  early  and  faithful  services  as  to  supersede  him  by 
any  man  who  was  at  first  his  junior  officer,  far  less  by  any  man 
who  declined  to  serve  in  the  Alfred,  &c.  at  the  beginning. 
Captain  Jones  paid  off  the  crews  of  the  Alfred  and  Providence, 
for  which  he  has  never  been  reimbursed.*  On  the  18th  Feb- 
ruary, Captain  Jones  received  an  appointment  by  order  of  Con- 
gress from  the  Hon.  Robert  Morris,  Esq.  Vice  President  of  the 
Marine  Committee,  dated  Philadelphia,  February  the  5th,  1777, 
to  command  private  expeditions  against  Pensacola  and  other 
places,  with  the  Alfred,  Columbus,  Cabot,  Hampden,  and  sloop 
Providence.  Many  important  schemes  were  pointed  out  ;t  but 
Captain  Jones  was  left  at  free  liberty  to  adopt  whatever  he 
thought  best.  This  appointment  fell  to  nothing ;  for  the  com- 


*  "Was  not  reimbursed  until  the  end  of  the  war,  and  then  without  any  interest." 
Corrected  by  Jones. 

t  "Some  of  which  Captain  Jones  had  suggested  to  Mr.  Morris;  and  others  that 
Mr.  Morris  had  judiciously  imagined  himself."  Jb. 


PAUL   JONES.  43 

mander  in  chief  would  not  assist  Captain  Jones,  but  affected  to 
disbelieve  his  appointment.  Captain  Jones  made  a  journey  by 
land  from  Boston  to  Philadelphia,  in  order  to  explain  matters 
to  Congress  in  person." 

There  are  two  other  documents  written  by  Jones,  recapitu- 
lating in  a  much  more  summary  manner,  the  events  of  the 
cruises  in  which  he  was  engaged  during  the  time  passed  over  in 
the  foregoing  extract.  One  of  these  is  a  letter  or  memorial, 
addressed  to  the  President  of  Congress,  written  from  the  Texel, 
December  7th,  1779,  which  he  elsewhere  styles  "  a  refreshing 
memorial ;"  the  other,  a  letter  addressed  to  Mr.  Morris,  Minis- 
ter of  the  Marine,  &c.  dated  Philadelphia,  October  13th,  1783.* 
The  narrative  drawn  up  for  the  king  of  France,  is  by  far  the 
most  precise  ;  on  which  account  it  has  been  introduced.  It  will 
be  necessary,  however,  to  revert  to  some  of  its  details,  for  the 
purposes  of  illustrating  the  circumstances  it  records,  and  ex- 
plaining the  subsequent  passages  in  the  history  of  Jones. 

The  affair  at  New  Providence  is  described  in  the  journal  with 
more  accuracy  than  in  any  other  account  extant,  which  the 
compiler  has  seen.  The  governor  had  privately  sent  off  from 
Nassau  one  hundred  and  fifty  barrels  of  powder  from  Fort 
Nassau.  A  quantity  of  cannons,  brass  mortars,  shot,  and  shells, 
were  taken  away ;  and  the  governor  and  two  more  gentlemen 
were  carried  off  as  prisoners. 

The  partial  engagement  with  the  Glasgow  is  briefly  alluded 
to.  Jones  felt  that  no  glory  was  gained  by  it,  and  such  was  the, 
perhaps,  unreasonable  opinion  of  the  American  public,  at  the 
time.  Commodore  Hopkins  alleged  in  his  justification,  that  if 
he  had  pursued  the  escaping  frigate,  it  might  have  brought  him 
into  an  engagement  with  the  whole  of  Wallace's  fleet,  then 
committing  great  depredation  on  the  coast  of  Rhode  Island.t 


*  A  letter  is  published  in  Mr.  Sherburne's  Collections,  dated  Philadelphia,  Sept. 
22d,  1782,  containing  portions  of  the  very  long  letter  found  in  Jones'  letter  books,  dated 
as  in  the  text. 

t  Clarke's  Naval  History  of  the  United  States,  page  17. 


44  PAUL   JONES. 

As  Jones  observes,  in  his  marginal  manuscript  note,  it  was  the 
business  of  the  commander  and  captains  to  answer  for  the 
escape  of  the  frigate  ;  yet  a  sensibility,  not  unallied,  perhaps,  to 
a  premature  and  morbid  apprehension  that  censure  would  light 
upon  himself,  caused  him  always  to  speak  of  this  affair  as  if  his 
personal  conduct  stood  in  need  of  exculpation.  Such  is  the 
temperament  of  those  who  feel  that  they  are  "  born  to  achieve 
greatness  ;"  the  exhibition  of  which,  until  their  vision  is  realized, 
is  laid  to  the  score  of  personal  vanity.  In  the  letter  to  the  Pre- 
sident of  Congress,  last  referred  to,  Jones  says :  "  I  continued 
in  that  ship,  (the  Alfred,)  and  had  my  share  of  the  dishonour 
which  attended  the  first  essay  of  American  arms  by  sea,  with 
the  Glasgow.  Permit  me  however  to  observe,  that  as  I  was 
stationed  to  command  the  lower  battery  of  the  Alfred,  I  had  no 
share  in  the  government  of  the  sails  or  helm  ;  and  as  the  artil- 
lery under  my  direction  was  well  served,  whenever  it  could  be 
brought  to  bear,  I  hope  Congress  will  not  find  that  the  disgrace 
of  that  night  was  owing  to  me."  Writing  to  Mr.  Hewes,  shortly 
after  the  transaction,  he  says  :  "  My  station  confined  me  to  the 
Alfred's  lower  gun-deck,  where  I  commanded  during  the  action ; 
yet,  though  the  commander's  letter,  which  has  been  published, 
says,  '  all  the  officers  in  the  Alfred  behaved  well,'  still  the  public 
blames  me  among  others  for  not  taking  the  enemy.  But  a  little 
consideration  will  place  the  matter  in  a  true  light ;  for  no  offi- 
cer, under  a  superior,  who  does  not  stand  charged,  by  that 
superior,  for  cowardice  or  misconduct,  can  be  blamed  on  any 
occasion  whatever." 

It  is  to  be  observed,  that  while  thus  disqyowing  any  responsi- 
bility, as  a  subaltern,  Jones  by  no  means  imputes  blame  to  Com- 
modore Hopkins.  He  says,  in  his  letter  to  Mr.  Hewes ;  "  I 
have  the  pleasure  of  assuring  you  that  the  commander  in  chief 
is  respected  throughout  the  fleet ;  and  I  verily  believe  that  the 
officers  and  men,  in  general,  would  go  any  length  to  execute  his 
orders."  In  the  same  letter  he  refers  to  the  minutes  of  the 
action  with  the  Glasgow,  as  entered  by  himself  on  the  Alfred's 


PAUL   JONES.  45 

log-book,  which  are  copied,  as  follows,  in  Mr.  Sherburne's  Col- 
lections. 

"At  2  A.  M.  cleared  ship  for  action.  At  half  past  two,  the 
Cabot  being  between  us  and  the  enemy,  began  to  engage,  and 
soon  after  we  did  the  same.  At  the  third  glass,  the  enemy  bore 
away,  and  by  crowding  sail  at  length  got  a  considerable  way 
a-head,  made  signals  for  the  rest  of  the  English  fleet  at  Rhode 
Island  to  come  to  her  assistance,  and  steered  directly  for  the 
harbour.  The  Commodore  then  thought  it  imprudent  to  risk 
our  prizes,  &c.  by  pursuing  farther ;  therefore,  to  prevent  our 
being  decoyed  into  their  hands,  at  half  past  6  made  the  signal  to 
leave  off  chase  and  haul  by  the  wind  to  join  our  prizes.  The 
Cabot  was  disabled  at  the  second  broadside  ;  the  captain  being 
dangerously  wounded,  the  master  and  several  men  killed.  The 
enemy's  whole  fire  was  then  directed  at  us,  and  an  unlucky  shot 
having  carried  away  our  wheel-block  and  ropes,  the  ship 
broached  to,  and  gave  the  enemy  an  opportunity  of  raking  us 
with  several  broadsides  before  we  were  again  in  condition  to 
steer  the  ship  and  return  the  fire.  In  the  action  we  received 
several  shot  under  water,  which  made  the  ship  very  leaky  ;  we 
had  besides,  the  mainmast  shot  through,  and  the  upper  works 
and  the  rigging  very  considerably  damaged  ;  yet  it  is  surprising 
that  we  only  lost  the  2d  lieutenant  of  marines  and  four  men,  one 
of  whom,  (Martin  Gillingwater,)  was  a  midshipman,  prisoner, 
who  was  in  the  cockpit,  and  had  been  taken  in  the  bomb  brig 
JBolton  yesterday ;  we  had  no  more  than  three  men  dangerously 
and  four  slightly  wounded."* 


*  In  the  87th  number  of  the  "  Constitutional  Gazette,"  published  in 
New  York,  May  20th,  1776,  is  a  statement  of  Captain  David  Hawley, 
who  had  arrived  at  Hartford,  from  Halifax,  whence  he  had  escaped, 
having  been  a  prisoner  on  board  the  Glasgow  during  the  skirmish  in 
question.  He  says  that,  "  on  the  — th  of  April,  the  Glasgow  sailed 
from  Newport ;  in  the  morning  of  the  6th  discovered  sundry  sail,  and 
stood  for  them ;  came  up  and  hailed  the  brig,  who  answered  that  they 


46  PAUL   JONES. 

The  adventure  with  the  Glasgow  cannot,  from  the  evidence 
now  left,  be  considered  as  discreditable  to  the  infant  navy  of 
America.  The  promotion  of  Jones,  by  the  commander  in  chief 
of  the  navy,  to  be  acting  commandant  of  the  Providence,  proves, 
as  he  states  himself,  that  the  officer  under  whose  command  he 
had  immediately  served  approved  of  his  conduct.  While  con- 
veying military  stores  and  troops  between  Newport  and  New 
York,  he  appears  from  his  journal  to  have  had  several  ren- 
contres with  the  Cerberus  frigate  and  with  others.  Mr.  Clarke, 


were  from  Plymouth ;  then  the  brig  hailed  the  Glasgow,  and  was  told 
who  they  were.  Upon  signals  being  made  and  not  answered,  as  it  was 
still  dark,  the  Glasgow  received  a  heavy  broadside  from  the  brig,  killed 
one  man,  and  slightly  wounded  another.  Then  the  Alfred  came  up, 
and  closely  engaged  her  for  near  three  glasses,  while  the  black  brig  at- 
tacked the  Glasgow  on  her  lee  bow.  It  was  observed  by  the  motion  of 
tbe  Alfred,  that  she  had  received  some  unlucky  shot.  The  sloop  of 
twelve  guns  fired  upon  her  stern  without  any  great  effect.  The  most 
of  her  shot  went  about  six  feet  above  the  deck  ;  whereas,  if  they  had 
been  properly  levelled,  they  must  soon  have  cleared  it  of  men.  The 
Glasgow  got  at  a  distance,  when  she  fired  smartly ;  and  the  engage- 
ment lasted  about  six  glasses,  when  they  both  seemed  willing  to  quit. 
The  Glasgow  was  considerably  damaged  in  her  hull ;  had  ten  shot 
through  her  mainmast,  fifty-two  through  her  mizen  staysail,  one  hun- 
dred and  ten  through  her  mainsail,  and  eighty-eight  through  her  fore- 
sail ;  had  her  spars  carried  away,  and  her  rigging  cut  to  pieces.  On 
the  6th  they  got  into  Rhode  Island  ;  early  in  the  morning  of  the  7th, 
were  fired  .upon  from  the  shore,  cut  her  cables,  and  run  up  to  Hope 
Island,  where  the  hospital  ship  followed  them.  The  wind  shifting  to 
the  northward,  they  went  out  and  joined  Commodore  Wallace,  and 
after  two  days  sailed  for  Halifax,  where  Captain  Hawley  tarried  a  fort- 
night, and  on  the  7th  of  April,  made  his  escape  with  eight  others,  in  a 
small  boat,  and  came  to  Old  York." 

The  seventy-fifth  number  of  the  same  newspaper,  of  April  17th, 
1776,  contains  the  following  account  under  date  of  Newport,  April  8th, 
which  throws  light  upon  the  result  of  the  affair  with  the  Glasgow,  and 
from  its  quaintness  may  not  be  uninteresting. 


PAUL   JONES.  47 

in  his  Naval  History  speaks  of  two  "  engagements"  with  the 
former  vessel.  Jones  does  not  appear  to  have  deemed  them 
worthy  of  commemoration  in  his  narrative  and  letter  books. 
In  his  "  refreshing  memorial"  to  the  President  of  Congress, 
written  from  the  Texel,  he  says,  when  speaking  of  this  period 
of  his  service ;  "  The  first  service  I  performed  in  the  Providence 
was  to  transport  a  number  of  soldiers  from  Providence  to  New 
York,  which  General  Washington  had  lent  us  at  New  London 
to  inspire  us  with  courage  to  venture  round  to  Rhode  Island, 


"  Last  Friday  the  ministerial  fleet  went  a  little  without  the  mouth  of 
our  harbour,  and  in  the  evening  they  all  returned  and  anchored  be- 
tween Gould  island  and  Coddington's  Point,  except  the  Glasgow,  of 
twenty-four  guns,  and  a  small  tender,  which  kept  out  all  night.  As 
soon  as  it  was  light,  the  next  morning,  a  party  of  the  troops  stationed 
on  the  island  got  down  two  of  their  18  pounders  upon  the  point,  and 
played  so  well  upon  these  worse  than  Algerine  rovers,  that  they  hulled 
the  Rose  two  or  three  times,  the  Nautilus  once  or  twice,  and  sent  a  shot 
through  and  through  one  of  the  armed  tenders,  upon  which  Captain 
Wallace,  of  the  Rose,  sent  off  a  boat  to  cut  away  the  buoy  of  his 
anchor,  then  slipped  his  cable,  and  made  off  as  fast  as  possible ;  and 
the  rest  of  his  fleet  followed  in  the  utmost  hurry  and  confusion,  having 
fired  about  fifteen  cannon  upon  our  people  without  the  least  effect, 
though  they  stood  in  considerable  numbers,  as  open  as  they  could  well 
be,  without  the  least  breast-work  or  other  shelter. 

"  For  several  hours  before,  and  during  the  above  engagement,  a  vast 
number  of  cannon  were  heard  from  the  S.  E.  and  about  sunrise  eight 
or  ten  sail  of  ships,  brigs,  &c.  were  seen  a  little  to  the  eastward  of 
Block  island,  and  indeed  the  flashes  of  the  cannon  were  seen  by  some 
people  about  daybreak.  These  things  caused  much  speculation,  but 
in  a  few  hours  the  mystery  was  somewhat  cleared  up,  for  away  came 
the  poor  Glasgow,  under  all  the  sail  she  could  set,  yelping  from  the 
mouths  of  her  cannon  like  a  broken  legged  dog,  as  a  signal  of  her  being 
sadly  wounded.  And  though  she  settled  away,  and  handed  most  of 
her  sails  just  before  she  came  into  the  harbour,  it  was  plainly  perceived 
by  the  holes  in  those  she  had  standing,  and  by  the  hanging  of  her 
yards,  that  she  had  been  treated  in  a  very  rough  manner.  The  other 


48  PAUL   JONES. 

The  Commodore  employed  me  afterwards  For  some  time  to  es 
cort  vessels  from  Rhode  Island  into  the  Sound,  &c.  while  the 
Cerberus  and  other  vessels  cruised  round  Block  Island.  At 
iast  I  received  orders  to  proceed  to  Boston,  to  take  under  con- 
voy some  vessels  laden  with  coal  for  Philadelphia.  I  perform- 
ed that  service  about  the  time  when  Lord  Howe  arrived  at 
Sandy  Hook.  It  was  proposed  to  send  me  from  Philadelphia 
fey  land  to  take  command  of  the  Hampden  in  Connecticut,  but 
I  rather  preferred  to  continue  in  the  Providence,  the  Hampden 
feeing  a  far  inferior  vessel  to  the  description  that  had  been  given 
of  her  to  Congress." 

He  was  commissioned  to  sail  from  the  Delaware  on  a  cruise, 
"  with  unlimited  orders,"  as  he  expresses  it  in  his  memorial ; 


vessels  seen  off  stood  up  the  western  sound,  and  by  very  authentic  in- 
telligence received  on  Saturday  evening,  we  are  fully  convinced  they 
were  twelve  sail  of  the  Continental  navy,  very  deeply  laden  with  can- 
non, mortars,  cannon-shot,  bombs,  and  other  warlike  stores  from  the 
West  Indies,  so  that  it  is  probable  their  precious  cargoes  were  the  sole 
cause  of  Mrs.  Glasgow's  making  her  escape.  Her  tender  was  taken, 
as  also  the  bomb  brig,  and  a  schooner  which  had  been  out  near  a 
week  in  search  of  prey. 

"  As  soon  as  the  Glasgow  got  in,  the  Rose,  Captain  Wallace,  the 
Nautilus,  Captain  Collins,  the  Swan,  Captain  Ascough,  with  several 
tenders,  and  pirated  prizes,  stood  out  to  sea,  leaving  the  Glasgow,  a 
large  snow,  and  two  small  sloops  at  anchor,  about  three  quarters  of  a 
mile  from  Brenton's  point.  The  ensuing  night,  a  party  of  troops  car- 
ried one  eighteen  pounder,  one  nine,  one  six,  and  two  four  pounders,  on 
said  point,  and  early  yesterday  morning  saluted  the  Glasgow  with  such 
warmth  that  she  slipped  her  cable  and  pushed  up  the  river  without 
firing  a  gun,  under  all  the  sail  she  could  make,  and  the  others  followed 
with  great  precipitation.  By  the  terrible  cracking  on  board  the  Glas- 
gow, the  noise  and  confusion  among  her  men,  it  is  thought  the  cannon 
did  good  execution.  The  wind  shifting  to  the  northward  about  noon, 
those  vessels  ran  down  the  back  of  Conanicut  and  stood  out  to  sea, 
supposed  to  have  gone  in  quest  of  Captain  Wallace,  to  make  a  wofiil 
complaint  of  the  incivility  of  the  Yankees." 


PAUL  JONES.  49 

and  this  was  certainly  the  sort  of  trust  which  he  best  loved  to 
execute.  Some  extracts  from  his  letters  to  the  marine  com- 
mittee of  Congress,  relative  to  his  adventures  in  this  cruise  of 
"  six  weeks  ancl  five  days,"  so  briefly  mentioned  in  his  journal, 
will  probably  be  acceptable  to  the  reader. 

"  Providence,  at  sea,  in  N.  Lot.  37°  40', 
S.  W.  Longitude,  54°,  Sept.  4th,  1776. 
"  GENTLEMEN, 

"  I  had  the  honour  of  writing  to  you  the  27th  August,  per  the 
brigantine  Brittannia,  which  I  sent  under  the  care  of  Lieutenant 
Wm.  Grinnell.  Since  that,  I  have  been  to  the  southward,  near 
the  parallel  of  Bermuda,  and  brought  to  four  sail  of  French, 
Spanish,  and  Danish  ships,  homeward  bound,  but  without  gain- 
ing any  useful  information.  On  the  first  current,  I  fell  in  with 
a  fleet  of  five  sail,  one  of  them  being  very  large,  it  was  the  ge- 
neral opinion  here,  that  she  was  either  an  old  Indiaman,  out- 
ward bound,  with  stores,  or  a  Jamaica  three-decker,  bound 
homewards.  We  found  her  to  be  an  English  frigate,  mounting 
twenty  guns  upon  one  deck.  She  sailed  fast,  and  pursued  us  by 
the  wind,  till,  after  four  hours  chase,  the  sea  running  very  cross, 
she  got  within  musket  shot  of  our  lee-quarter.  As  they  had 
continued  firing  at  us  from  the  first,  without  showing  colours, 
I  now  ordered  ours  to  be  hoisted,  and  began  to  fire  at  them. 
Upon  this,  they  also  hoisted  American  colors,  and  fired  guns  to 
leeward.  But  the  bait  would  not  take,  for,  having  every  thing 
prepared,  I  bore  away  before  the  wind,  and  set  all  our  light  sail 
at  once ;  so  that,  before  her  sails  could  be  trimmed,  and  steer- 
ing sails  set,  I  was  almost  out  of  reach  of  grape,  and  soon  after 
out  of  reach  of  cannon  shot.  Our  '  hair-breadth  escape,'  and 
the  saucy  manner  of  making  it,  must  have  mortified  him  not  a 
little.  Had  he  foreseen  this  motion,  and  been  prepared  to 
counteract  it,  he  might  have  fired  several  broadsides  of  double- 
headed  and  grape  shot,  which  would  have  done  us  very  material 
damage.  But  he  was  a  bad  marksman;  and,  though  within 
pistol  shot,  did  not  touch  the  Providence  with  one  of  the  many 

6 


50  PAUL    JONES. 

shots  he  fired.*  I  met  with  no  other  adventure  till  last  night, 
when  I  took  the  Bermuda  built  brigantine  Sea  Nymph,  &c." 

He  concludes  this  letter  by  observing  that  he  did  not  expect 
much  success  in  his  cruise,  as  it  was  too  late  for  the  season ;  a 
remark  which  he  repeats  in  his  next  letter,  dated  three  days 
after,  when  sending  in  the  brigantine  Favourite  laden  with 
sugar,  from  Antigua,  for  Liverpool,  which  he  had  captured  on 
the  evening  of  September  6th,  being  his  third  prize. 

The  following  characteristic  letter,  giving  an  account  of  the 
manne1*  in  which  he  ridiculed  the  Milford  frigate,  (as  he  ex- 
presses it  in  a  subjoined  precis  of  his  cruise,)  and  took  or  de- 
stroyed the  shipping  in  Canso  Harbour,  seems  worthy  of  being 
inserted  entire. 

"Providence  off  the  Isle  of  Sable,  30th  Sept.  1776. 

"GENTLEMEN,      *      *      * 

"  From  that  time  [of  despatching  the  Favourite,]  I  cruised 
without  seeing  any  vessel.  I  then  spoke  the  Columbus'  prize, 
the  ship  Royal  Exchange,  bound  for  Boston.  By  this  time,  my 
water  and  wood  began  to  run  short,  which  induced  me  to  run  to 
the  northward,  for  some  port  of  Nova  Scotia  or  Cape  Breton. 
I  had,  besides,  a  prospect  of  destroying  the  English  shipping  in 
these  parts.  The  16th,  and  17th,  I  had  a  very  heavy  gale  from 
the  N.  W.  which  obliged  me  to  dismount  all  my  guns,  and  stick 
every  thing  I  could  into  the  hold.  The  19th,  I  made  the  Isle 
of  Sable,  and  on  the  20th,  being  between  it  and  the  main,  I  met 
with  an  English  frigate,  with  a  merchant  ship  under  her  con- 
voy. I  had  hove  to,  to  give  my  people  an  opportunity  of  ta- 
king fish,  when  the  frigate  came  in  sight  directly  to  windward; 
and  was  so  good  natured  as  to  save  me  the  trouble  of  chasing 
him,  by  bearing  down,  the  instant  he  discovered  us.  When  he 
came  within  cannon  shot,  I  made  sail  to  try  his  speed.  Quar- 


*  This  is  Jones'  own  account  of  what  is  called  in  the  Naval  Chronicle  his  "  action  of 
six  hours"  with  the  frigate  Solebay,  of  28  guns,  from  which  he  saved  himself  by  a 
"  desperate"  manoeuvre.  "  Skilful"  seems  to  be  a  more  appropriate  term. 


PAUL   JONES.  51 

tering  and  finding  that  I  had  the  advantage,  I  shortened  sail  to 
give  him  a  wild  goose  chase,  and  tempt  him  to  throw  away  pow- 
der and  shot.  Accordingly,  a  curious  mock  engagement  was 
maintained  between  us,  for  eight  hours ;  until  night,  with  her 
sable*  curtains,  put  an  end  to  this  famous  exploit  of  English 
knight-errantry. 

"  He  excited  my  contempt  so  much,  by  his  continued  firing, 
at  more  than  twice  the  proper  distance,  that  when  he  rounded 
to,  to  give  his  broadside,  I  ordered  my  marine  officer  to  return 
the  salute  with  only  a  single  musket.  We  saw  him,  next  morn- 
ing, standing  to  the  westward ;  and  it  is  not  unlikely,  that  he 
hath  told  his  friends  at  Halifax,  what  a  trimming  he  gave  to  a 
'  rebe.  privateer,'  which  he  found  infesting  the  coast. 

"  That  night  I  was  off  Canso  harbour,  and  sent  my  boat  in  to 
gain  information.  On  the  morning  of  the  22d,  I  anchored  in 
the  harbour,  and,  before  night,  got  off  a  sufficiency  of  wood  and 
water.  Here  I  recruited  several  men,  and  finding  three  Eng- 
lish schooners  in  the  harbour,  we  that  night  burned  one,  sunk  an- 
other, and,  in  the  morning,  carried  off  the  third,  which  we  had 
loaded  with  what  fish  was  found  in  the  other  two. 

"  At  Canso,  I  received  information  of  nine  sail  of  ships,  brigs, 
and  schooners,  in  the  harbour  of  Narrow  Shock  and  Peter  de 
Great, t  at  a  small  distance  from  each  other,  in  the  Island  of 
Madame,  on  the  east  side  of  the  bay  of  Canso.  These  I  deter- 
mined to  take  or  destroy;  and,  to  do  it  effectually,  having 
brought  a  shallop  for  the  imrpose  from  Canso,  I  despatched  her 
with  twenty-five  armed  men  to  Narrow  Shock,  while  my  boat 
went,  well  manned  and  armed,  to  Peter  de  Great ;  and  I  kept 
off  and  on  with  the  sloop,  to  keep  them  in  awe  at  both  places. 
The  expedition  succeeded  to  my  wish.  So  effectual  was  this 
surprise,  and  so  general  the  panic,  that  numbers  yielded  to  a 
handful,  without  opposition,  and  never  was  a  bloodless  victory 
more  complete.  As  the  shipping  that  were  unloaded  were  all  un- 


*  He  dates  off  the  Isle  of  Sable. 

t  The  orthography  of  the  manuscript  is  followed. 


52  PAUL   JONES. 

rigged,  I  had  recourse  to  an  expedient  for  despatch.  I  promised 
to  leave  the  late  proprietors  vessels  sufficient  to  carry  them 
home  to  the  Island  of  Jersey,  on  condition  that  they  immediately 
fitted  out  and  rigged  such  of  the  rest  as  might  be  required.  This 
condition  was  readily  complied  with ;  and  they  assisted  my 
people  with  unremitting  application,  till  the  business  was  com- 
pleted. But  the  evening  of  the  25th  brought  with  it  a  violent 
gale  of  wind,  with  rain,  which  obliged  me  to  anchor  in  the  en- 
trance of  Narrow  Shock ;  where  I  rode  it  out,  with  both  anchors 
and  whole  cables  a-head.  Two  of  our  prizes,  the  ship  Alex- 
ander and  Sea  Flower,  had  come  out  before  the  gale  began. 
The  ship  anchored  under  a  point,  and  rode  it  out ;  but  the 
schooner,  after  anchoring,  drove,  and  ran  ashore.  She  was  a 
valuable  prize ;  but,  as  I  could  not  get  her  off,  I  next  day  or- 
dered her  to  be  set  on  fire.  The  schooner  Ebenezer,  taken  at 
Canso,  was  driven  on  a  reef  of  sunken  rocks,  and  there  totally 
lost ;  the  people  having  with  difficulty  saved  themselves  on  a 
raft.  Towards  noon  on  the  26th,  the  gale  began  to  abate.  The 
ship  Adventure  being  unrigged,  and  almost  empty,  I  ordered 
her  to  be  burnt.  I  put  to  sea  in  the  afternoon  with  the  brigan- 
tine  Kingston  Packet,  and  being  joined  by  the  Alexander,  went 
off  Peter  de  Great.  I  had  sent  an  officer  round  in  a  shallop  to 
order  the  vessels  in  that  harbour  to  meet  me  in  the  offing,  and 
he  now  joined  me  in  the  brigantine  Success,  and  informed  me 
that  Mr.  Gallagher,  (the  officer  who  had  commanded  the  party 
in  that  harbour,)  had  left  it  at  the  beginning  of  the  gale  in  the 
brigantine  Defence,  and  taken  with  him  my  boat  and  all  the 
people.  I  am  unwilling  to  believe  that  this  was  done  with  an 
evil  intention.  I  rather  think  he  concluded  the  boat  and  people 
necessary  to  assist  the  vessel  getting  out,  the  navigation  being 
difficult,  and  the  wind  at  that  time  unfavourable  ;  and  when  the 
gale  began,  I  know  it  was  impossible  for  them  to  return. 

"  Thus  weakened,  I  could  attempt  nothing  more.  With  one  of 
our  brigs  and  the  sloop,  I  could  have  scoured  the  coast  and  se- 
cured the  destruction  of  a  large  boat  fleet  that  was  loading  near 
Louisbourg,  with  the  savage  only  to  protect  them. 


PAUL   JONES.  53 

"  The  fishery  at  Canso  and  Madame  is  effectually  destroyed. 
Out  of  twelve  sail  which  I  took  there,  I  only  left  two  small 
schooners  and  one  small  brig,  to  convey  a  number  of  unfortu- 
nate men,  not  short  of  three  hundred,  across  the  Western 
Ocean.  Had  I  gone  further,  I  should  have  stood  chargeable 
with  inhumanity. 

"  In  my  ticklish  situation  it  would  have  been  madness  to  lose 
a  moment.  I  therefore  hastened  to  the  southward,  to  convey 
my  prizes  out  of  harm's  way,  the  Damono  brig  having  been 
within  fifteen  leagues  of  the  scene  of  action  during  the  whole 
time. 

"  On  the  27th,  I  saw  two  sail,  which  we  took  for  Quebec 
transports.  Unable  to  resist  the  temptation,  having  appointed 
a  three  days'  rendezvous  on  the  S.  W.  part  of  the  Isle  of  Sable, 
I  gave  chase,  but  could  not  come  up  before  they  had  got  into 
Louisoourg,  a  place  where  I  had  reason  to  expect  a  far  superior 
force  ;  and  therefore  returned,  and  this  day  I  joined  my  prizes 
at  the  rendezvous. 

"  If  my  poor  endeavours  should  meet  with  your  approbation, 
I  shall  be  greatly  rewarded  in  the  pleasing  reflection  of  having 
endeavoured  to  do  my  duty.  I  have  had  so  much  stormy  wea- 
ther, and  been  obliged,  on  divers  occasions,  to  carry  so  much 
sail,  that  the  sloop  is  in  no  condition  to  continue  long  out  of 
port.  I  am,  besides,  very  weak  handed  ;  and  the  men  I  have 
are  scarce  able  to  stand  the  deck,  for  want  of  clothing,  the  wea- 
ther here  being  very  cold.  These  reasons  induce  me  to  bend 
my  thoughts  towards  the  continent.  I  do  not  expect  to  meet 
with  much,  if  any  success,  on  my  return.  But  if  fortune  should 
insist  on  sending  a  transport  or  so  in  my  way,  weak  as  I  arn,  I 
will  endeavour  to  pilot  him  safe.  It  is  but  justice  to  add,  that 
my  officers  and  men  behaved  incomparably  well  on  the  oc- 
casion. 

"  I  have  the  honour  to  be,  &c.  &c. 

"  JOHN  P.  JONES. 

'  The  Honourable  the  Marine  Committee, 
Philadelphia." 


54  PAUL   JONES. 

The  following  is  the  list  of  prizes,  taken,  burnt,  and  sunk  oy 
Jones  this  cruise. 

Brigantine  Britannia,  Whaler, 

,,  Sea  Nymph,  West  Indies, 

Favourite, 


manned  and 
sent  in. 


Ship  Alexander,  Newfoundland, 

Brigantine  Success,  ,, 

„  Kingston  Packet,  Jamaica, 

,,  Defiance,  Jersey, 

Sloop  Portland,  Whaler, 

Ship  Adventure,  Jersey, 

Brigantine  Friendship,  ,, 

Schooner  John,  London, 

„  Betsy,  Jersey, 

,,  Betsy,  Halifax, 

„  Sea  Flower,  Canso, 

„  Ebenezer,  „ 

„  Hope,  Jersey 


One  of  the  objects  of-the  expedition  to  Cape  Breton,  that  of 
rescuing  the  hundred  American  prisoners  confined  in  the  coal 
pits,  was  not  effected  ;  and  other  projects  were  abandoned,  from 
the  lateness  of  the  season,  and  the  difficulty  of  procuring  men. 
Jones  indeed  met  with  more  success  than  he  had  anticipated,  as 
will  be  seen  from  the  following  extract  of  his  letter  to  Mr. 
Morris,  dated  October  17th. 

"  I  have  been  successfully  employed  in  refitting  and  getting 
the  Providence  in  readiness,  but  am  under  the  greatest  appre- 
hension that  the  expedition  will  fall  to  nothing,  as  the  Alfred  is 
greatly  short  of  men.  I  found  her  with  only  about  thirty  men, 
and  we  have  with  much  ado  enlisted  thirty  more  ;  but  it  seems 
the  privateers  entice  them  away  as  fast  as  they  receive  their 
month's  pay.  It  is  to  the  last  degree  distressing  to  contemplate 
the  state  and  establishment  of  our  navy.  The  common  class  of 
mankind  are  actuated  by  no  nobler  principle  than  that  of  self-in- 
terest ;  this,  and  this  alone  determines  all  adventurers  in  priva- 
teers ;  the  owners,  as  well  as  those  whom  they  employ.  And 
while  this  is  the  case,  unless  the  private  emolument  of  individuals 
in  our  navy  is  made  superior  to  that  in  privateers,  it  never  can 


3PAITL  JONES.  55 

become  respectable ;  it  never  will  become  formidable.  And 
without  a  respectable  navy — alas !  America  !  In  the  present 
critical  situation  of  affairs,  human  wisdom  can  suggest  no  more 
than  one  infallible  expedient :  enlist  the  seamen  during  plea- 
sure, and  give  them  all  the  prizes.  What  is  the  paltry  emolu- 
ment of  two  thirds  of  prizes  to  the  finances  of  this  vast  continent  f* 
If  so  poor  a  resource  is  essential  to  its  independency,  in  sober 
sadness  we  are  involved  in  a  woful  predicament,  and  our  ruin  is 
fast  approaching.  The  situation  of  America  is  new  in  the  an- 
nals of  mankind ;  her  affairs  cry  haste,  and  speed  must  answer 
them.  Trifles,  therefore,  ought  to  be  wholly  disregarded,  as 
being  in  the  old  vulgar  proverb  "  penny  wise,  and  pound  fool- 
ish." If  our  enemies  with  the  best  established  and  most  formi- 
dable navy  in  the  universe,  have  found  it  expedient  to  assign  all 
prizes  to  the  captors,  how  much  more  is  such  policy  essential  to 
our  infant  fleet  ?  But  I  need  use  no  arguments  to  convince  you 
of  the  necessity  of  making  the  emoluments  of  our  navy  equal,  if 
not  superior,  to  theirs.  We  have  had  proof  that  a  navy  may  be 
officered  almost  on  any  terms,  but  we  are  not  so  sure  that  these 
officers  are  equal  to  their  commissions ;  nor  will  the  Congress 
ever  obtain  such  certainty,  until  they,  in  their  wisdom,  see  pro- 
per to  appoint  a  board  of  admiralty,  competent  to  determine  im- 
partially the  respective  merits  and  abilities  of  their  officers,  and 

V 

to  superintend,  regulate,  and  point  out,  all  the  motions  and  op- 
erations of  the  navy." 

In  the  same  letter  he  says,  "  Governor  Hopkins  tells  me,  that 
he  apprehends  I  am  appointed  to  the  Andrew  Doria ;  she  is  a 
good  cruiser,  and  would,  in  my  judgment,  answer  much  better, 
were  she  mounted  with  12  six-pounders,  than  as  she  is  at  pre- 
sent, with  14  fours.  An  expedition  of  importance  may  be  effect- 
ed this  winter,  on  the  coast  of  Africa,  with  part  of  the  original 


*  By  a  resolution  of  Congress,  of  November  25th,  1775,  two  thirds  of  the  value  of 
all  captures,  made  by  public  ships  of  war,  were  reserved  to  the  use  of  the  United 
Colonies. 


56  PAUL   JOTVES. 

fleet.  Either  the  Alfred  or  Columbus,  with  the  Andrew  Doria 
and  Providence,  would,  I  am  persuaded,  carry  all  before  them ; 
and  give  a  blow  to  the  English  African  trade  which  would  not 
soon  be  recovered,  by  not  leaving  them  a  mast  standing  on  that 
coast.  This  expedition  would  be  attended  with  no  great  ex- 
pense ;  besides,  the  ship  and  vessels  mentioned  are  unfit  for  ser- 
vice on  a  winter  coast,  which  is  not  the  case  with  the  new 
frigates.  The  small  squadron  for  this  service  ought  to  sail 
early,  that  the  prizes  may  reach  our  ports  in  March  or  April. 
If  I  do  not  succeed  in  manning  the  Alfred,  so  as  to  proceed  to 
the  eastward,  in  the  course  of  this  week,  the  season  will  be  lost ; 
the  coal  fleet  will  be  gone  to  Halifax,  the  fishermen  to  Europe." 

This  cruise,  however,  of  Jones,  from  Rhode  Island,  was  at- 
tended with  many  useful  and  some  brilliant  results.  The  cap- 
ture, in  particular,  of  the  clothing  in  the  Meilish,  while  it  fur- 
nished a  seasonable  supply  to  the  American  army,  was  a  serious 
privation  to  that  of  the  enemy.  In  his  letter  to  the  Marine 
Committee  dated  November  12th,  Jones  says  :  "  This  prize  is, 
I  believe,  the  most  valuable  that  has  been  taken  by  the  Ameri- 
can arms.  She  made  some  defence,  but  it  was  trifling.  The 
loss  will  distress  the  enemy  more  than  can  be  easily  imagined, 
as  the  clothing  on  board  of  her  is  the  last  intended  to  be  sent  out 
for  Canada  this  season,  and  all  that  has  preceded  it  is  already 
taken.  The  situation  of  Burgoyne's  army  must  soon  become 
insupportable.  I  shall  not  lose  sight  of  a  prize  of  such  impor- 
tance, but  will  sink  her,  rather  than  suffer  her  to  fall  again  into 
their  hands." 

His  account  of  his  second  meeting  with  the  Milford,  given  in 
the  memorial  from  the  Texel,  is  as  follows  :  "  On  the  edge  of 
St.  George's  Bank,  I  again  met  with  the  Milford.  The  wind 
was  at  N.  W.  the  enemy  to  windward,  and  we  on  our  starboard 
tack.  He  could  not  come  up  before  night;  and,  in  the  mean 
time,  I  placed  the  Alfred  and  the  letter  of  marque  from  Liver- 
pool, between  the  other  prizes  and  the  enemy.  I  ordered  them 
to  crowd  sail  on  the  eame  tack,  all  night,  without  paying  regard 
to  my  light  or  signals.  At  midnight,  the  Alfred  and  the 


PAPL   JONES.  57 

letter  of  marque  tacked,  and  I  afterwards  carried  a  top  light  till 
morning. 

"  This  led  the  Milford  entirely  out  of  the  way  of  the  prizes, 
and  particularly  the  clothing  ship  Mellish  ;  for  they  were  all  out 
of  sight  in  the  morning.  I  had  now  to  get  out  of  the  difficulty 
in  the  best  way  I  could.  In  the  morning  we  again  tacked ;  and 
as  the  Milford  did  not  make  much  appearance,  I  was  unwilling 
to  quit  her,  without  a  certainty  of  her  superior  force.  She  was 
out  of  shot,  on  the  lee  quarter ;  and  as  I  could  only  see  her  bow, 
I  ordered  the  letter  of  marque,  Lieutenant  Saunders,  that  held 
a  much  better  wind  than  the  Alfred,  to  drop  slowly  astern,  until 
he  could  discover  by  a  view  of  the  enemy's  side,  whether  she  was 
of  superior  or  inferior  force,  and  to  make  a  signal  accordingly. 
On  seeing  Mr.  Saunders  drop  astern,  the  Milford  wore  suddenly, 
and  crowded  sail  towards  the  N.  E.  This  raised  in  me  such 
doubts  as  determined  me  to  wear  also,  and  give  chase.  Mr. 
Saunders  steered  by  the  wind,  while  the  Milford  went  lasking, 
and  the  Alfred  followed  her  with  a  pressed  sail,  so  that  Mr. 
Saunders  was  soon  almost  hull  down  to  windward.  At  last 
the  Milford  tacked  again ;  but  I  did  not  tack  the  Alfred,  till  I 
had  the  enemy's  side  fairly  open,  and  could  plainly  see  her  force. 
I  then  tacked,  about  ten  o'clock.  The  Alfred  being  too  light  to 
be  steered  by  the  wind,  I  bore  away  two  points,  while  the  Milford 
steered  close  by  the  wind,  to  gain  the  Alfred's  wake ;  and  by 
that  means  he  dropped  astern,  notwithstanding  his  superior 
sailing.  The  weather  too,  which  became  exceedingly  squally, 
enabled  me  to  outdo  the  Milford,  by  carrying  more  sail.  I 
began  to  be  under  no  apprehension  from  the  enemy's  superi- 
ority, for  there  was  every  appearance  of  a  severe  gale,  which 
really  took  place  in  the  night.  To  my  great  surprise,  however, 
Mr.  Saunders,  towards  4  o'clock,  bore  down  on  the  Milford, 
made  the  signal  of  her  inferior  force,  ran  under  her  lee,  and  was 
taken  !" 

The  delay  experienced  by  Captain  Jones  at  Boston,  where  he 
arrived  with  his  prize,  in  getting  rid  of  his  prisoners  and  being 
delivered,  as  he  phrases  it,  from  the  "honourable  office  of  a  jail 

7 


58  PAUL   JONES. 

keeper," — the  inaction  in  which  he  was  obliged  to  remain  for 
want  of  a  command, — the  neglect  of  Commodore  Hopkins,  from 
unwillingness  or  inability,  to  render  him  any  assistance, — and 
his  being  superseded  in  the  command  of  the  Alfred  by  the  or- 
ders of  that  officer,  were  circumstances  of  an  irritating  character, 
which  drew  from  him  many  letters  of  indignant  remonstrance. 
Writing  to  the  Commodore  on  the  28th  February,  he  says  :  "It 
is  only  necessary  for  me  to  inform  you,  as  I  have  already  done, 
that  I  am  appointed  by  a  letter  from  the  Honourable  the  Vice 
President  of  the  Marine  Board,  dated  the  5th  current,  to  take 
command  of  the  Alfred,  Columbus,  Cabot,  Hampden,  and  sloop 
Providence,  and  to  call  on  you  for  every  possible  assistance 
within  your  power,  to  enable  me  to  proceed  forthwith  on  a  pri- 
vate enterprise,  of  the  greatest  importance  to  America.  The 
letter  has  the  sanction  and  full  authority  of  Congress.  It  is 
written  in  their  name.  Therefore,  Sir,  I  repeat  my  application, 
and  demand  your  hearty  and  immediate  concurrence  with  me 
in  the  outfit.  It  is  in  vain  for  you  to  affect  to  disbelieve  my 
appointment. 

"  I  should  have  appeared  personally  at  Providence,  had  you 
justified  my  conduct  in  obeying  your  express  orders,  instead  of 
leaving  me,  as  you  have  done,  in  the  lurch.*  I  could  then  have 
convinced  you  of  its  being  your  indispensable  duty  to  give  me 
every  possible  assistance.  When  I  placed  a  confidence  in  you, 
I  did  not  think  you  capable  of  prevarication.  I  then,  when  yon 
needed  friends,  gave  you  the  most  convincing  proof  of  my  sin- 
cerity. This  you  must  remember.  I  have  asked  Captain  Sal- 
tonstall,  how  he  could  in  the  beginning  suspect  me,  as  you  have 
told  me,  of  being  unfriendly  to  America.  He  seemed  astonished 
at  the  question ;  and  told  me  it  was  yourself  who  promoted  it. 
However,  waving  every  thing  of  a  private  nature,  the  best  way 


*  This  refers  to  the  action  commenced  against  Jones  for  damages,  by  the  men  taken 
from  the  Rhode  Island  privateer.  Commodore  Hopkins  left  him  to  defend  the  suit 
himself  saying  that  his  orders  had  not  been  given  in  writing.  See  Appendix,  No.  I. 


PAUL   JONES.  59 

is  to  co-operate  cheerfully  together,  that  the  public  service  may 
be  forwarded,  and  that  scorn  may  yet  forbear  to  point  her  fin- 
ger at  a  fleet  under  your  command.  I  am  earnest  in  desiring 
to  do  every  thing  with  good  nature.  Therefore  to  remove  your 
doubts,  if  you  have  any,  I  send  this  by  express,  to  inform  you 
that  I  will  meet  you  at  Pawtucket,  or  at  any  other  place,  on  as 
early  a  day  as  you  please  to  appoint,  and  will  there  produce 
credentials  to  your  satisfaction.  In  the  mean  time,  it  is  your 
duty  to  prevent  the  departure  of  the  Cabot,  or  any  other  vessel 
of  the  squadron.  I  am  astonished  to  hear  that  you  have  ordered 
the  Hampden  out,  without  desiring  an  explanation,  after  you 
received  my  last  letters.  My  appointment  was  unsolicited  and 
unexpected,  and  it  must  be  owing  to  the  hurry  of  business  that 
you  have  received  no  similar  orders.  I  am,  honoured  Sir,  your 
very  obliged,  most  humble  servant, 

"  J.  P  JONES. 

"  P.  S.  I  have  sent  by  the  bearer  the  coat  which  you  desired, 
likewise  one  for  Mr.  Brown.  If  I  can  render  you  any  service 
here,  in  procuring  other  articles,  acquaint  me  with  the  particu- 
lars, and  my  best  endeavours  shall  not  be  wanting." 

The  mixture  of  conciliatory  overtures  with  the  peremptory 
language  of  this  epistle,  shows  that  personal  pique  was  temper- 
ed with  a  predominating  desire  to  serve  the  cause  of  the  country 
at  all  sacrifices.  It  may  be  remarked,  in  passing,  that  Commo- 
dore Hopkins  had  been  ordered  to  be  censured  by  the  sentence 
of  a  Court  Martial ;  and  that  when  the  rank  and  station  of  the 
commanders  of  the  navy  was  determined  by  Congress,  his  name 
was  omitted. 

In  relation  to  the  manner  in  which  Jones  was  superseded,  as 
he  conceived  himself  to  have  been,  byjunior  officers,  he  has  given 
a  full  account  in  his  letter  addressed  to  Mr.  Morris  from  Phila- 
delphia in  1783,  the  whole  of  which  document  we  have  thought 
it  necessary  to  publish  in  the  appendix  to  this  part.*  It  was  an 


See  Appendix  to  Part  First,  No  II. 


60  PAUL   JONES. 

arrangement  of  which  he  never  ceased  to  complain,  and  as  the 
facts  stated  by  him  are  uncontradicted,  it  seems  that  he  had  good 
reasons  for  so  doing.  Three  grades  of  lieutenants  were  estab- 
lished by  the  act'of  Congress  of  December  22d,  1775.  Jones 
was  at  the  head  of  the  first.  At  this  time  it  is  true  that  Con- 
gress had  not  granted  general  letters  of  reprisal,  nor  had  the 
allegiance  of  the  colonies  to  the  British  crown  been  renounced. 
After  the  declaration  of  Independence,  the  organization  of  the 
navy  could  only  properly  take  place,  and  the  rank  of  its  officers 
be  settled,  as  Congress  in  its  wisdom  should  determine.  Still  a 
regard  was  due  to  meritorious  services,  and  to  former  prece- 
dence, where  the  imperfect  right  was  supported  by  them.  The 
appointment  of  Jones  to  command  the  Providence  as  Captain, 
by  the  commander  in  chief  of  the  fleet,  Commodore  Hopkins, 
though  it  cannot  be  considered  as  establishing  his  rank,  was  en- 
titled to  respect.  On  the  8th  of  August,  1776,  he  received  an 
appointment  as  Captain,  under  the  United  States,  from  President 
Hancock.  Congress  had  passed  a  resolution  on  the  17th  April 
preceding,  that  "  the  nomination  or  appointment  of  captains  or 
commanders  should  not  establish  rank,  which  should  be  settled 
before  commissions  were  granted ;"  and  it  was  not  until  the 
10th  of  October  following,  that  by  another  resolution  they  set- 
tled the  delicate  and  embarrassing  question.*  But  Jones  con- 


*  Rank  of  Captains  in  the  Navy,  established  by  Congress,  Oct.  10th, 

1776,  viz. 

Commanders.  Vessels.                    Guns. 

No.  1  James  Nicholson     -     -     -     -  Virginia,     -  -     28 

2  John  Manly       -----  Hancock,    -  -     32 

3  Hector  M'Neil  -     -     -     -  Boston,       -          24 

4  Dudley  Saltonstall       -          -  Trumbull,             28 

5  Nicholas  Biddle      -     -     -     -  Randolph,  -     32 

6  Thomas  Thompson     -     -     -  Raleigh,     -  -     32 

7  John  Barry Effingham,  -     28 

8  Thomas  Read  -----  Washington,  -     32 

9  Thomas  Grinnell  -     -    -     -  Congress,  -  -     28 


PAUL    JONES. 


61 


ceived,  as  it  was  natural  he  should,  that  the  date  of  his  appoint- 
ment ought  not  to  have  been  wholly  overlooked,  and  fairly  en- 
titled him  to  priority  over  those  who  were  commissioned  as  Cap- 
tains, for  the  first  time,  on  the  10th  October.  In  what  terms  that 
appointment  was  couched  cannot  be  ascertained,  as  it  appears 
it  was  mislaid  by  President  Hancock,  who  had  requested  Jones 
to  leave  it  with  him  for  a  day  or  two.  In  the  eloquent  argu- 
ment made  for  himself  by  the  latter,  in  the  remonstrance  in 
the  appendix  to  which  we  refer,  he  evidently  confounds  occa- 
sionally the  terms,  appointment  and  commission.  While,  there- 
fore the  government  must  be  exempted  from  the  censure  of 
having  violated  any  actual  rights  which  Captain  Jones  had,  it  is  a 
matter  of  regret,  that  in  executing  the  difficult  task  of  assign- 
ing rank,  his  fair  claims  should  not  have  been  admitted.  It  em- 
bittered many  moments  of  his  existence,  when  he  was  strug- 
gling with  other  difficulties,  which  neither  courage  nor  ambition 
could  overcome,  and  felt  peculiarly  "  how  near  to  the  heart," 
as  he  expresses  it,  "  of  every  military  officer,  is  rank,  which  opens 
the  door  to  glory." 


10  Charles  Alexander      -     -     - 

Delaware,  -     - 

24 

11  Lambert  Wickes   -     -     -     - 

Reprisal,     -     - 

16 

12  Abraham  Whipple      -     -     - 

Providence, 

28 

13  John  B.  Hopkins       -     -     - 

Warren,      -     - 

32 

14  John  Hodge     -     -     -    -     - 

Montgomery,   - 

24 

15  William  HaUock  -     -     -     - 

Lexington,  -     - 

16 

16  Hoysted  Hacker  -     -     -     - 

Ilumpden,  -     - 

— 

17  Isaiah  Robinson  -     -     -     - 

Andrew  Doria, 

14 

18  John  Paul  Jones  -    -     -     - 

Providence,  - 

-  12 

1(1    T                  T       *     V> 

20  Elisha  Hinman     -    -    -     - 

Alfred,     -    - 

-  28 

O1     T            1     f\\ 

Cabot,      -    - 

-  16 

22  James  Robinson  -    -    -     - 

Sachem,  -     - 

-  10 

12S     Tnlin  Vrnino-     . 

Independence, 

-  10 

24  Elisba  Warner    -     -     -     - 

Fly,     -     -     - 



Lieut.  John  Baldwin      -     - 

Wasp,  -     -     - 

-   8 

Lieut.  Thomas  Alberton    - 

Musquito,  -     - 

-  4 

62  PAUL    JONES. 

On  this  subject  he  thus  wrote  to  the  Marine  Board  at  Phila- 
delphia, "  I  am  now  to  inform  you,  that  by  a  letter  from  Commo- 
dore Hopkins,  dated  on  board  the  Warren,  January  14th,  1777, 
which  came  to  my  hands  a  day  or  two  ago,  I  am  superseded  in 
the  command  of  the  Alfred,  in  favour  of  Captain  Hinman,  and 
ordered  back  to  the  sloop  in  Providence  River.  Whether  this 
order  doth  or  doth  not  supersede  also  your  orders  to  me  of  the 
10th  ult.  you  can  best  determine  ;  however,  as  I  undertook  the 
late  expedition  at  his  (Commodore  Hopkins')  request,  from  a 
principle  of  humanity,  I  mean  not  now  to  make  a  difficulty  about 
trifles,  especially  when  the  good  of  the  service  is  to  be  consulted. 
As  I  am  unconscious  of  any  neglect  of  duty,  or  misconduct, 
since  my  appointment  at  the  first  as  eldest  lieutenant  of  the 
navy,  I  cannot  suppose  that  you  can  have  intended  to  set  me 
aside,  in  favour  of  any  man  who  did  not  at  that  time  bear  a  cap- 
tain's commission,  unless  indeed  that  man,  by  exerting  his  su- 
perior abilities,  hath  rendered  or  can  render  more  important 
services  to  America.  Those  who  stepped  forth  at  the  first,  in 
ships  altogether  unfit  for  war,  were  generally  considered  as  fran- 
tic rather  than  as  wise  men  ;  for  it  must  be  remembered,  that 
almost  every  thing  then  made  against  them.  And  although  the 
success  in  the  affair  with  the  Glasgow  was  not  equal  to  what  it 
might  have  been,  yet  the  blame  ought  not  to  be  general.  The 
principal  or  principals  in  command  alone  are  culpable  ;  and  the 
other  officers,  while  they  stand  unimpeached,  have  their  full 
merit.  There  were,  it  is  true,  divers  persons,  from  misrepre- 
sentation, put  into  commission  at  the  beginning,  without  fit 
qualification,  and  perhaps  the  number  may  have  been  increased 
by  later  appointments ;  but  it  follows  not  that  the  gentleman  or 
man  of  merit  should  be  neglected  or  overlooked  on  their  ac- 
count. None  other  than  a  gentleman,  as  well  as  a  seaman  both 
in  theory  and  practice,  is  qualified  to  support  the  character  of  a 
commission  officer  in  the  navy  ;  nor  is  any  man  fit  to  command 
a  ship  of  war  who  is  not  also  capable  of  communicating  his 
ideas  on  paper,  in  language  that  becomes  his  rank.  If  this  be 


PACfL   JONES.  63 

admitted,  the  foregoing  operations  will  be  sufficiently  clear ;  but 
if  further  proof  is  required,  it  can  easily  be  produced. 

"  When  I  entered  into  the  service,  I  was  not  actuated  by 
motives  of  self-interest.  I  stepped  forth  as  a  free  citizen  of  the 
world,  in  defence  of  the  violated  rights  of  mankind,  and  not  in 
search  of  riches,  whereof,  I  thank  God,  I  inherit  a  sufficiency  ;* 
but  I  should  prove  my  degeneracy  were  I  not  in  the  highest  de- 
gree tenacious  of  my  rank  and  seniority.  As  a  gentleman,  I 
can  yield  this  point  up  only  to  persons  of  superior  abilities  and 
superior  merit ;  and  under  such  persons  it  would  be  my  highest 
ambition  to  learn.  As  this  is  the  first  time  of  my  having  ex- 
pressed the  least  anxiety  on  my  own  account,  I  must  entreat  your 
patience  until  I  account  to  you  for  the  reason  which  hath  given 
me  this  freedom  of  sentiment.  It  seems  that  Captain  Hinman's 
commission  is  No.  1,  and  that,  in  consequence,  he  who  was  at 
first  my  junior  officer  by  eight,  hath  expressed  himself  as  my 
senior  officer  in  a  manner  which  doth  himself  no  honour,  and 
which  doth  me  signal  injury.  There  are  also  in  the  navy,  per- 
sons who  have  not  shown  me  fair  play  after  the  service  I  have 
rendered  them.  I  have  even  been  blamed  for  the  civilities  which 
I  have  shown  to  my  prisoners  ;  at  the  request  of  one  of  whom 
I  herein  enclose  an  appeal,  which  I  must  beg  leave  to  lay  before 
Congress.  Could  you  see  the  appellant's  accomplished  lady, 
and  the  innocents  their  children,  arguments  in  their  behalf  would 
be  unnecessary.  As  the  base-minded  only  are  capable  of  incon- 
sistencies, you  will  not  blame  my  free  soul,  which  can  never 
stoop  where  I  cannot  also  esteem.  Could  I,  which  I  never  can, 
bear  to  be  superseded,  I  should  indeed  deserve  your  contempt 
and  total  neglect.  I  am  therefore  to  entreat  you  to  employ  me 
in  the  most  enterprising  and  active  service, — accountable  to 
your  Honourable  Board  only,  for  my  conduct,  and  connected  as 
much  as  possible  with  gentlemen  and  men  of  good  sense." 

*  His  jealous  uneasiness  lest  he  should  be  considered  a  gladiator,  or  in  ary  shape 
a  mercenary  soldier,  led  him  to  use  strong  terms,  not  always  well  weighed  in  the 
moment  of  indignation.  The  riches  he  inherited  were  the  gifts  of  nature. 

See  Appendix  No.  III. 


64  PAUL   JONES. 

"  My  conduct  hitherto,"  he  says,  in  the  memorial  addressed 
to  Congress  from  the  Texel,  "  was  so  much  approved  of  by 
Congress,  that  on  the  5th  February,  1777,  I  was  appointed, 
with  unlimited  orders,  to  command  a  little  squadron  of  the  Al- 
fred, Columbus,  Cabot,  Hampden,  and  sloop  Providence.  Va- 
rious important  services  were  pointed  out,  but  I  was  left  at  free 
liberty  to  make  my  election.  That  service,  however,  did  not 
take  place ;  for  the  Commodore,  who  had  three  of  the  squadron 
blocked  in  at  Providence,  affected  to  disbelieve  my  appointment, 
and  would  not  at  last  give  me  the  necessary  assistance.  Find- 
ing that  he  trifled  with  my  applications  as  well  as  the  orders  of 
Congress,  I  undertook  a  journey  from  Boston  to  Philadelphia, 
in  order  to  explain  matters  to  Congress  in  person.  I  took 
this  step  also  because  Captain  Hinman  had  succeeded  me 
in  the  command  of  the  Alfred,  and,  of  course,  the  service  could 
not  suffer  through  my  absence.  I  arrived  at  Philadelphia  in 
the  beginning  of  April.  But  what  was  my  surprise  to  find  that, 
by  a  new  line  of  navy  rank,  which  had  taken  place  on  the  10th 
day  of  October,  1776,  all  the  officers  that  had  stepped  forth  at 
the  beginning  were  superseded  !  I  was  myself  superseded  by 
thirteen  men,  not  one  of  whom  did  (and  perhaps  some  of  them 
durst  not)  take  the  sea  against  the  British  flag  at  the  first ;  for 
several  of  them  who  were  then  applied  to  refused  to  venture, — 
and  none  of  them  have  since  been  very  happy  in  proving  their 
superior  abilities.  Among  these  thirteen  there  are  individuals 
who  can  neither  pretend  to  parts  nor  education,  and  with  whom, 
as  a  private  gentleman,  I  would  disdain  to  associate. 

"  I  leave  your  Excellency  and  the  Congress  to  judge  how 
this  must  affect  a  man  of  honour  and  sensibility. 

"I  was  told  by  President  Hancock,  that  what  gave  me  so 
much  pain  had  been  the  effect  only  of  a  multiplicity  of  business. 
He  acknowledged  the  injustice  of  that  regulation,  said  it  should 
make  but  a  nominal,  and  temporary  difference,  and  that  in  the 
mean  time  I  might  assure  myself,  that  no  navy  officer  stood 
higher  in  the  opinion  of  Congress  than  myself." 

*i«A*»« 


PAUL   JONES.  65 

In  connexion  with  the  foregoing  letters,  it  is  not  out  of  place 
to  introduce  the  following,  to  Mr.  Morris. 

"  As  the  regulations  of  the  navy  are  of  the  utmost  conse- 
quence, you  will  not  think  it  presumption,  if,  with  the  utmost 
diffidence,  I  venture  to  communicate  to  you  such  hints  as,  in 
my  judgment,  will  promote  its  honour  and  good  government. 
I  could  heartily  wish  that  every  commission  officer  was  to  be 
previously  examined ;  for,  to  my  certain  knowledge,  there  are 
persons  who  have  already  crept  into  commission  without  abili- 
ties or  fit  qualification  :  I  am  myself  far  from  desiring  to  be  ex- 
cused. From  experience  in  ours,  as  well  as  from  my  former 
intimacy  with  many  officers  of  note  in  the  British  navy,  I  am 
convinced  that  the  parity  of  rank  between  sea  and  land  or  ma- 
rine officers,  is  of  more  consequence  to  the  harmony  of  the  ser- 
vice than  has  generally  been  imagined.  In  the  British  estab- 
lishment, an  admiral  ranks  with  a  general,  a  vice  admiral  with 
a  lieutenant  general,  a  rear  admiral  with  a  major  general,  a  com- 
modore with  a  brigadier  general,  a  captain  with  a  colonel,  a 
master  and  commander  with  a  lieutenant  colonel,  a  lieutenant 
commanding  with  a  major,  and  a  lieutenant  in  the  navy  ranks 
with  a  captain  of  horse,  foot,  or  marines.  I  propose  not  our  ene- 
mies as  an  example  for  our  general  imitation,  yet,  as  their  navy 
is  the  best  regulated  of  any  in  the  world,  we  must  in  some  degree 
imitate  them,  and  aim  at  such  farther  improvement  as  may  one 
day  make  ours  vie  with,  and  exceed  theirs.  Were  this  regula- 
tion to  take  place  in  our  navy,  it  would  prevent  numberless  dis- 
putes and  duellings,  which  otherwise  will  be  unavoidable."* 


*  Congress  on  the  15th  November,   1776,  adopted  the  following 

resolution. 

That  the  rank  of  the  naval  officers  be  to  the  rank  of  officers  in  the 

land  service,  as  follows : 

Admiral,     --.-       asa       -----  General, 
Vice  Admiral,       --         "          -----  Lieut.  General, 
Rear  Admiral,      --         "         -----  Major  General, 

8 


66  PAUL    JONES. 

Jones  repaired  from  Boston  to  Philadelphia,  in  the  beginning 
of  April,  7.777.  His  suggestions  as  to  the  proper  government 
of  the  na  ry,  and  his  projects  of  annoying  the  enemy,  were  lis- 
tened to  with  respectful  attention.  Whatever  cause  he  con- 
ceived himself  to  have  for  complaining  of  the  nominal  rank  as- 
signed to  him,  the  command  which  it  was  first  resolved  to  give 
him,  and  that  with  which  he  was  in  the  issue  entrusted,  were 
calculated  to  satisfy  his  sense  of  what  was  due  to  his  deserts, 
and  he  expresses  himself  as  being  highly  gratified.  In  his 
Journal,  written  for  the  king  of  France,  he  says  :  "  The  Presi- 
dent assured  Captain  Jones  that  this  matter  of  rank  should  be 
arranged  at  a  future  day,  to  his  satisfaction,  and  in  the  mean 
time  he  should  have  a  separate  command,  &c.  Three  ships 
were  ordered  to  be  fitted  out  in  the  eastern  states,  and  Captain 
Jones  was,  by  a  resolve  of  Congress,  directed  to  take  his  choice 
of  them, '  until  better  pi-ovision  could  be  made  for  him.'*  Cap- 
tain Jones  spared  no  pains  to  execute  this  last  scheme  ;  but  be- 
fore it  was  well  begun,  he  received  an  appointment  from  the 
marine  and  secret  committee,  to  proceed  to  France  in  the  French 


Commodore,    ---         as  a-----  Brig.  General, 
Captain  of  a  ship  of  40  guns  and  upwards,  Colonel, 

Do.     -     -     -        20  to  40- guns,     -     as  a       Lieut.  Colonel, 
Do.  of  a  ship  of  10  to  20  guns,     -       "  Major, 

Lieutenant  in  the  navy,       -     -     -     -       "  Captain. 

*  "  IN  CONGRESS,  March  15,  1777. 

"  Resolved,  That  Daniel  Waters,  and  Samuel  Tucker,  be  appointed 
Captains  in  the  Navy  of  the  United  States,  and  that  they  have  the  com- 
mand of  two  of  the  three  ships  ordered  to  be  purchased.  And  that  the 
command  of  the  other  ship  be  given  to  Captain  John  Paul  Jones,  until 
better  provision  can  be  made  for  him." 

The  resolutions  of  the  Marine  Committee,  authorizing  Jones  to  make 
his  election  of  the  three  ships,  as  soon  as  the  purchase  should  be  made, 
and  to  fit  out  the  one  he  might  select  for  sea,  are  to  the  effect  stated  in 
his  journal. 


PAUL  JONES.  67 

* 

ship  Amphitrite  from  New  Hampshire,  with  a  letter  to  the  Ame- 
rican Commissioners  at  Paris,  containing  orders  to  invest  him 
immediately  with  the  command  of  '  a  fine  ship,'  (the  Indian, 
built  for  America  at  Amsterdam,)  '  as  a  reward  for  his  zeal, 
and  the  important  services  he  had  performed,  in  vessels  of  little 
force.'  His  departure  in  the  Amphitrite  did  not  succeed,  be- 
cause the  terms  offered  the  French  commander  were  not  accept- 
ed." Speaking  of  this  resolution  of  Congress,  he  says  else- 
where, "  This  was  generous  indeed  ;  and  I  shall  feel  the  whole 
force  of  the  obligation,  to  the  last  moment  of  my  life." 

In  the  memorandums  and  documents,  in  the  compiler's  pos- 
session, there  is  no  further  explanation  of  the  causes  which 
prevented  Jones  from  embarking  in  the  Amphitrite.  By  a  let- 
ter from  him,  to  an  agent,  directing  the  enlistment  of  seamen, 
dated  May  23d,  it  appears  that  he  lost  no  time  in  acting  upon 
the  appointment  by  the  Marine  Committee.  The  following  are 
the  official  letters  and  instructions,  with  which  he  was  fur- 
nished. 

"  Philadelphia,  9th  May,  1777. 
"  HONOURABLE  GENTLEMEN, 

"  This  letter  is  intended  to  be  delivered  to  you  by  John  Paul 
Jones,  Esq.  an  active  and  brave  commander  in  our  navy,  who 
has  already  performed  signal  services  in  vessels  of  little  force  ; 
and  in  reward  for  his  zeal  we  have  directed  him  to  go  on  board 
the  Amphitrite,  a  French  ship  of  twenty  guns,  that  brought  in 
a  valuable  cargo  of  stores  from  Mons.  Hostalez  and  Co.  and 
with  her  to  repair  to  France.  He  takes  with  him  his  commis- 
sion, some  officers  and  men,  so  that  we  hope  he  will,  under  that 
sanction,  make  some  good  prizes  with  the  Amphitrite  ;  but  our 
design  of  sending  him  is,  (with  the  approbation  of  Congress,) 
that  you  may  purchase  one  of  those  fine  frigates  that  Mr.  Deane 
writes  us  you  can  get,  and  invest  him  with  the  command  there- 
of as  soon  as  possible.  We  hope  you  may  not  delay  this  business 
one  moment,  but  purchase,  in  such  port  or  place  in  Europe  as  it 
can  be  done  with  most  convenience  and  despatch,  a  fine  fast- 


68  PAUL   JONES. 

sailing  frigate  or  larger  ship.  Direct  Captain  Jones  wheie  he 
must  repair  to,  and  he  will  take  with  him  his  officers  and  men 
towards  manning  her.  You  will  assign  him  some  good  house  or 
agent  to  supply  him  with  every  thing  necessary  to  get  the  ship 
speedily  and  well  equipped  and  manned — somebody  that  will 
bestir  themselves  vigorously  in  the  business,  and  never  quit  it 
until  it  is  accomplished. 

"  If  you  have  any  plan  or  service  to  be  performed  in  Europe 
by  such  a  ship,  that  you  think  will  be  more  for  the  interest  and 
honour  of  the  States  than  sending  her  out  directly,  Captain 
Jones  is  instructed  to  obey  your  orders  ;  and,  to  save  repetition, 
let  him  lay  before  you  the  instructions  we  have  given  him,  and 
furnish  you  with  a  copy  thereof.  You  can  then  judge  what 
will  be  necessary  for  you  to  direct  him  in,  and  whatever  you  do 
will  be  approved,  as  it  will  undoubtedly  tend  to  promote  the 
public  service  of  this  country. 

"  You  see  by  this  step  how  much  dependence  Congress  place 
in  your  advices ;  and  you  must  make  it  a  point  not  to  disap- 
point Captain  Jones'  wishes  and  expectations  on  this  occasion. 

"  We  are,  &c. 
(Signed)         "  ROBERT  MORRIS. 

"  RICHARD  HENRY  LEE. 
"  WM.  WHIPPLE. 
"  PHIL.  LIVINGSTON. 
••  The  Honourable  Benjamin  Franklin,  Silas  Deane, 

and  Arthur  Lee,  Esquires,  Commissioners,"  &c. 

IN  MARINE  COMMITTEE. 

"  Philadelphia,  May  9th,  1777. 
"  JOHN  PAUL  JONES,  Esq. 

"  Sir — Congress  have  thought  proper  to  authorize  the  Se- 
cret Committee  to  employ  you  on  a  voyage  in  the  Amphitrite, 
from  Portsmouth  to  Carolina  and  France,  where  it  is  expected 
you  will  be  provided  with  a  fine  frigate  ;  and  as  your  present 
commission  is  for  the  command  of  a  particular  ship,  we  now 
send  you  a  new  one,  whereby  you  are  appointed  a  captain  in 


PAUL   JONES.  69 

our  navy,  and  of  course  may  command  any  ship  in  the  service 
to  which  you  are  particularly  ordered.  You  are  to  obey  the 
orders  of  the  Secret  Committee,  and  we  are,  Sir,  &c. 

(Signed)         "  JOHN  HANCOCK. 

"  ROB.  MORRIS. 

"  WM.  WHIPPLE." 

IN  MARINE  COMMITTEE. 

"  Philadelphia,  September  6tk,  1777. 
"  SIR, 

"  As  soon  as  these  instructions  get  to  hand,  you  are  to  make 
immediate  application  to  the  proper  persons  to  get  your  vessel 
victualled  and  fitted  for  sea  with  all  expedition.  When  this  is 
done,  you  are  to  proceed  on  a  voyage  to  some  convenient  port 
in  France  ;  on  your  arrival  there,  apply  to  the  agent,  if  any,  in 
or  near  said  port,  for  such  supplies  as  you  may  stand  in  need  of. 
You  are  at  the  same  time  to  give  immediate  notice,  by  letter, 
to  the  Honourable  Benjamin  Franklin,  Silas  Deane,  and  Arthur 
Lee,  Esquires,  or  any  of  them  at  Paris,  of  your  arrival,  request- 
ing their  instructions  as  to  your  further  destination  ;  which  in- 
structions you  are  to  obey  as  far  as  it  shall  be  in  your  power. 

"  You  are  to  take  particular  notice,  that  whilst  on  the  coast 
of  France,  or  in  a  French  port,  you  are,  as  much  as  you  con- 
veniently can,  to  keep  your  guns  covered  and  concealed,  and  to 
make  as  little  warlike  appearance  as  possible.  Wishing  you," 
&c.  &c. 

Jones  had  recommended,  in  a  letter  to  a  member  in  Congress, 
that  the  Mellish  should  be  converted  into  a  ship  of  war ;  and 
the  secret  committee  had  passed  a  resolution  to  that  effect ;  but 
the  intention  was  abandoned  in  consequence  of  letters  from  him. 
On  the  14th  June,  Congress  resolved,  "that  the  flag  of  the 
United  States  should  be  thirteen  stripes,  alternate  red  and 
white  :  that  the  Union  be  thirteen  stars,  white  in  a  blue  field, 
representing  a  new  constellation."  By  another  resolution, 
passed  the  same  day,  Jones  was  appointed  to  command  the 
ship  Ranger ;  on  board  of  which  he  hoisted  the  national  flag 


70  PAUL  JONES. 

for  the  first  time  it  was  displayed  on  board  of  a  man  of  tvar,  as 
he  had  formerly  hoisted  the  colonial  one,  in  the  Delaware.* 
He  began  to  fit  out  this  vessel  in  July  ;  but  was  not  ready  for 
sea  before  the  15th  November  following.  She  was  scarcely 
half  rigged  when  he  took  charge  of  her,  and  much  difficulty 
was  experienced  in  arming  and  equipping  her.  He  wrote*  as 
follows  to  the  Marine  Committee  on  the  29th  October. — "With 
all  my  industry  I  could  not  get  the  single  suit  of  sails  comple- 
ted, until  the  20th  current.  Since  that  time  the  winds  and 
weather  have  laid  me  under  the  necessity  of  continuing  in  port. 
At  this  time  it  blows  a  very  heavy  gale  from  the  N.  E.  The 
ship  with  difficulty  rides  it  out,  with  yards  and  top  mast  struck, 
and  whole  cables  ahead.  When  it  clears  up,  I  expect  the  wind 
from  the  N.  W.  and  shall  not  fail  to  embrace  it,  although  I  have 
not  now  a  spare  sail,  nor  materials  to  make  one.  Some  of  those 
I  have  are  made  of  Hessings,  (a  coarse  thin  stuff.)  I  never  be- 
fore had  so  disagreeable  a  service  to  perform,  as  that  which  I 
have  now  accomplished,  and  of  which  another  will  claim  the 
credit  as  well  as  the  profit.  However,  in  doing  my  utmost,  I 
am  sensible  that  I  have  done  no  more  than  my  duty.  I  have 
now  to  acknowledge  the  honour  of  having  received  your  orders 
of  the  6th  ultimo ;  and  that  I  have  before  me  the  pleasing  pros- 
pect of  being  the  welcome  messenger  at  Paris  of  the  joyful  and 
important  news  of  Burgoyne's  surrender.  I  have  received  de- 
spatches from  the  Council  of  Massachusetts,  for  the  com- 
missioners, by  express.  I  shall,  therefore,  not  go  out  of  my 
course,  unless  I  see  a  fair  opportunity  of  distressing  the  enemy, 
and  of  rendering  services  to  America." 

Twenty-six  guns  were  provided  for  the  Ranger  ;  but  Jones 
wrote  that  he  purposed  to  carry  no  more  than  18  six  pounders, 
as  he  thought  the  ship  incapable  of  carrying  a  greater  number 
so  as  to  be  serviceable.  He  complained  that  they  were  all  three 
diameters  of  the  bore  too  short.  He  found  no  difficulty  in  pro- 


*  See  Appendix,  No.  IV. 


PAUL  JONES.  71 

curing  men,  but  he  was  badly  provided  with  stores,  having  only 
thirty  gallons  of  rum  for  his  whole  crew.  With  this  indifferent 
armament  he  sailed  from  Portsmouth  on  the  first  of  November, 
and  arrived  at  Nantes  on  the  2d  December  following.  He  found 
the  Ranger  very  crank,  owing  to  the  improper  quality  of  her 
ballast ;  which  induced  him  on  his  arrival  to  shorten  her  lower 
masts,  and  ballast  with  lead.  The  following  particulars  of  his 
cruise  are  given  in  his  letter  from  Nantes  to  the  Marine  Com- 
mittee.— "  After  passing  the  Western  Islands,  I  fell  in  with  and 
brought  to,  a  number  of  ships,  but  met  with  no  English  proper- 
ty, till  within  eighty  leagues  of  Ushant.  I  then  fell  in  with  a 
fleet  of  ten  sail  with  a  strong  convoy,  bound  up  the  channel ; 
but  notwithstanding  my  endeavours,  I  was  unable  to  detach  any 
of  them  from  the  convoy.  I  took  two  brigantines  from  Malaga 
with  fruit  for  London.  One  of  the  prizes  has  arrived  here. 
The  other,  I  am  now  told,  is  in  Quiberon  Bay.  I  arrived  here 
on  the  2d  current,  without  having  met  with  any  misfortune  on 
the  passage,  though  I  met  with  some  very  severe  weather.  Be- 
sides the  fleet  already  mentioned,  I  fell  in  with  several  ships  in 
the  night ;  so  that  I  have  had  agreeable  proofs  of  the  active 
spirit  both  of  my  officers  and  men.  Though  they  have  not  for- 
merly been  conversant  in  the  management  of  ships  of  war,  yet 
I  am  persuaded  they  will  behave  well,  should  I  have  an  oppor- 
tunity of  bringing  them  to  action,  &c."  He  does  not  mention 
in  this  letter  the  particulars  of  his  meeting  with  the  Invincible ; 
a  ship  of  seventy-four  guns,  which  was  giving  convoy  to  a  few 
ships  from  Gibraltar.  He  speaks  of  the  affair  in  his  narrative ' 
for  the  king  of  France,  as  a  "  near  .rencounter  ;"  and  in  his  let- 
ter from  the  Texel,  he  says,  "  I  could  not  help  chasing  the  In- 
vincible, by  the  way." 

Determining  to  attend  to  the  necessary  alterations  and  equip- 
ment of  the  Ranger  in  person,  his  first  act  on  arriving  at  Nantes 
was  to  write  on  the  5th  December  to  the  commissioners  of  Con- 
gress at  Paris, — Dr.  Franklin,  Silas  Deane,  and  Arthur  Lee. 
The  following  is  an  extract  from  the  letter  : 

"  I  yesterday,  enclosed  you  copies  of  two  letters  which  I  wrote 


72  PAUL   JONES. 

you  previous  to  my  departure  from  Portsmouth,  together  with 
a  plan  which  I  drew  up  at  Philadelphia,  on  the  regulation  and 
equipment  of  our  infant  navy.  It  is  my  first  and  favourite  wish 
to  be  employed  in  active  and  enterprising  services,  when  there 
is  a  prospect  of  rendering  acceptable  services  to  America.  The 
singular  honour  which  Congress  have  done  me  by  their  generous 
acknowledgment  of  my  past  services,  hath  inspired  me  with 
sentiments  of  gratitude  which  I  shall  carry  with  me  to  my  grave  ; 
and  if  a  life  of  services  devoted  to  America  can  be  made  instru- 
mental in  securing  its  independence,  I  shall  regard  the  continu- 
ance of  such  approbation  as  an  honour  far  superior  to  what 
kings  even  could  bestow." 

"  I  am  ready  to  lay  before  you  any  orders,  which  I  have  re- 
ceived from  Congress.  At  present  I  take  the  liberty  of  enclo- 
sing for  your  inspection  a  very  honourable  and  unexpected 
appointment,  &c."  "  I  have  always,  since  we  have  had 
ships  of  war,  been  persuaded  that  small  squadrons  could  be  em- 
ployed to  far  better  advantage  on  private  expeditions,  and 
would  distress  the  enemy  infinitely  more  than  the  same  force 
could  do,  by  cruising  either  jointly  or  separately.  Were  strict 
secrecy  observed  on  our  part,  the  enemy  have  many  important 
places  in  such  a  defenceless  situation,  that  they  might  be  effect- 
ually surprised  and  attacked,  with  no  very  considerable  force. 
We  cannot  yet  fight  their  navy  ;  as  their  numbers  and  force  are 
so  far  superior  to  ours.  Therefore  it  seems  to  be  our  most 
natural  province  to  surprise  their  defenceless  places  ;  and  there- 
•by  divert  their  attention,  and  draw  it  off  from  our  coasts.  But 
you  see  that  my  honourable  correspondent  is,  and  I  know  that 
many  others  are,  of  the  same  opinion." 

The  course  here  recommended  by  Jones  was  the  only  one 
which  eventually  was  found  feasible.  He  was  soon  summoned 
to  Paris  by  the  Commissioners,  to  consult  with  them  upon  the 
measures  to  be  adopted  for  annoying  the  enemy.  France  was 
not  yet  in  open  hostility  with  England,  nor  had  the  commis- 
sioners been  recognised  as  plenipotentiaries.  Jones  was  direct- 
ed to  keep  his  guns  as  much  concealed  as  possible  while  on  the 


PAUL   JONES.  73 

French  coasts.  He  was  destined  to  meet  with  a  serious  disap- 
pointment, in  being  obliged  to  assent  to  the  transfer  of  the  Indian, 
the  "  fine  ship"  of  which  he  had  expected  to  receive  the  com- 
mand, and  which  was  building  at  Amsterdam,  to  the  French 
Government.  Considering  the  irritability  of  his  character,  we 
do  not  find  that  he  bore  this  miscarriage  very  ungraciously. 
Congress  certainly  had  intended  that  he  should  take  command 
of  this  vessel,  or  of  one  of  equal  force ;  and  he  made  their  reso- 
lution a  ground  for  claiming  the  rank  which  such  a  command 
would  have  given  him.  But  he  submitted  to  parting  with  the 
Indian  with  tolerable  good  humour,  as  the  extracts  from  his  let- 
ters will  show.  This  is  mentioned,  because  he  has  been  charged 
with  writing  to  Congress •"  in  no  very  modest  terms."  In  his 
first  despatch  from  Nantes  to  the  marine  committee,  he  says  : 
"  I  understand,  though  I  have  yet  received  no  letter,  that  the 
commissioners  had  provided  for  me  one  of  the  finest  frigates 
that  ever  was  built ;  calculated  for  thirty  guns  on  one  deck ; 
and  capable  of  carrying  thirty-six  pounders ;  but  were  under 
the  necessity  of  giving  her  up,  on  account  of  some  difficulties 
which  they  met  with  at  court.  Perhaps  the  news  of  our  late 
successes  may  now  put  that  court  in  a  better  humour.  But  my 
unfeigned  thanks  are  equally  due  for  the  intention  as  for  the 
act."  Writing  again  to  the  same  committee,  on  the  22d  De- 
cember, the  day  after  he  had  received  a  request  from  the  com- 
missioners to  attend  them  at  Paris,  he  declared  his  intention  to 
proceed  to  sea  with  the  Ranger,  without  loss  of  time,  should 
there  be  any  delay  in  obtaining  additional  force.  In  his  narra- 
tive for  the  king  of  France,  corrected  by  himself,  in  speaking  of 
the  "  assignment  of  the  property  of  that  famous  frigate,  the 
[ndian,"  he  has  interlined,  "  with  the  consent  of  Captain 
Jones." 

Writing  to  the  Marine  Committee  subsequently,  on  the  sub- 
ject, he  said:  "  Deeply  sensible  of  the  honour  which  Congress 
has  conferred  upon  me,  communicated  in  the  orders  of  the  Secret 
Committee  to  the  commissioners,  I  can  bear  the  disappoint- 
ment with  philosophy.  Yet  I  confess  I  was  rather  hurt,  when 

0 


74  PAUL    JONES. 

at  Paris,  I  understood  that  the  new  frigate  at  Amsterdam  had 
never  been  intended  for  me,  before  my  appearance,  but  for  the 
constructor. " 

After  conferring  with  the  commissioners  on  the  various 
schemes  he  had  to  suggest,  he  returned  to  Nantes  to  complete 
the  Ranger's  equipments,  and  on  the  16th  of  January  1788,  he 
received  from  them  their  instructions  as  to  his  conduct  on  the 
cruise  he  proposed  making.  They  were  as  follows,  giving  him 
almost  unlimited  discretion  ;  which  he  was  perfectly  willing  to 
assume,  though  it  seems  from  one  of  his  despatches  that  he  did 
not  understand  the  commissioners  as  "  promising  even  to  justify 
him,  should  he  fail  in  any  bold  attempt." 

"  Paris,  January  16th,  1788. 
"  CAPTAIN  JONES, 

"  Sir — As  it  is  not  in  our  power  to  procure  you  such  a  ship 
as  you  expected,  we  advise  you,  after  equipping  the  Ranger  in 
the  best  manner  for  the  cruise  you  propose,  that  you  proceed 
with  her  in  the  manner  you  shall  judge  best  for  distressing  the 
enemies  of  the  United  States,  by  sea  or  otherwise,  consistent 
with  the  laws  of  war,  and  the  terms  of  your  commission." 
[Directions  here  follow  for  sending  prizes  taken  on  the  coast  of 
France  and  Spain,  into  Bilboa  or  Coronge,  unless  the  danger 
was  too  great,  in  which  case  they  were  to  be  sent  to  L'Orient 
or  Bordeaux.]  "  If  you  make  an  attempt  on  the  coast  of  Great 
Britain  we  advise  you  not  to  return  immediately  into  the  ports 
of  France,  unless  forced  by  stress  of  weather,  or  the  pursuit  of 
the  enemy;  and  in  such  case  you  can  mlute  the  proper  repre- 
sentation to  the  officers  of  the  port,  and  acquaint  us  with  your 
situation.  We  rely  on  your  ability,  as  well  as  your  zeal  to  serve 
the  United  States,  and  therefore  do  not  give  you  particular  m  • 
structions  as  to  your  operations.  We  must  caution  you  against 
giving  any  cause  of  complaint  to  the  subjects  of  France  or  Spain, 
or  of  other  neutral  powers  ;  and  recommend  it  to  you  to  show 
them  every  proper  mark  of  respect,  and  real  civility,  which  may 
be  in  your  power." 


PAUL   JONES.  75 

Mr.  Arthur  Lee  did  not  approve  of  a  part  of  these  instruc- 
tions, directing  the  sale  of  the  prizes  to  be  intrusted  to  other 
hands  than  those  of  the  commercial  agents.  He  expressed  his 
want  of  confidence  in  Mr.  Gourlade,  one  of  the  persons  men- 
tioned, at  L'Orient,  and  did  not  sign  the  letter.  Messrs.  Frank- 
lin and  Deane  knew  of  nothing  done  by  Gourlade,  to  impair 
(heir  confidence  in  him.  Agreeably  to  the  suggestion  of  Jones, 
they  addressed  an  intimation  to  the  crew  of  the  Ranger,  promis- 
ing, "  in  case  of  their  good  and  gallant  behaviour,  to  recommend 
them  to  Congress  for  a  generous  gratification,  proportioned  to 
their  merits." 

On  the  10th  of  February,  Jones  says  in  his  Journal  to  the 
king  of  France,  "  on  receiving  agreeable  news  of  affairs  in 
America,  and  the  position  of  Lord  Howe's  fleet,  he  wrote  a  let- 
ter to  Mr.  Deane,  one  of  the  commissioners  of  Congress  at 
Paris,  containing  the  plan  that  was  adopted  for  Count  D'Es- 
taing's  expedition ;  which  would  have  ended  the  war,  had  it 
been  immediately  pursued."  He  has  been  censured  for  assum- 
ing to  himself  the  original  merit  of  devising  this  important 
measure.  It  is  certain,  that  he  repeatedly  makes  the  assertion 
that  he  furnished  the  outline  of  the  project.*  In  a  letter  to  M. 
De  Sartine,  the  French  minister  of  marine,  written  subsequent- 
ly, he  says : 

"  Had  Count  D'Estaing  arrived  in  the  Delaware  a  few  days 
sooner,  he  might  have  made  a  most  glorious  and  easy  conquest. 
Many  successful  projects  may  be  adopted  from  the  hints  which 
I  had  the  honour  to  draw  up ;  and  if  I  can  still  furnish  more,  or 
execute  any  of  these  already  furnished,  so  as  to  distress  and 
humble  the  common  enemy,  it  will  afford  me  the  truest  plea- 
sure." It  may  naturally  be  inferred,  that  the  operations  of  Count 
D'Estaing's  fleet  was  a  subject  discussed  in  the  consultations  held 
by  Jones  with  the  commissioners,  on  his  first  brief  visit  to  Paris, 
though  he  does  not  intimate  that  any  such  conversation  took  place. 
It  cannot  be  doubted,  that  he  was  peculiarly  qualified  to  give 

*  See  Appendix,  No.  V. 


76  PAUL   JONES. 

important  advice,  from  his  accurate  acquaintance  with  the  loca.i 
ties  of  the  Delaware,  and  the  navigation  of  the  waters  in  the  vi- 
cinity of  the  scene  selected  for  the  intended  operation.  It  will 
also  not  be  doubted,  that  his  advice  would  naturally  be  of  a  da- 
ring character,  recommending  bold  measures  as  best  calculated 
to  lead  to  great  results.  There  can  be  no  reason  for  impeach- 
ing his  veracity,  when  he  affirms  that  he  forwarded  his  plan  to 
Mr.  Deane  at  the  time  mentioned  ;  nor  does  it  appear  that  he 
exclusively  arrogated  the  praise  due  to  the  wisdom  with  which 
the  scheme  was  conceived.  He  put  in  a  claim  for  his  fair  share 
of  the  honour  ;  and  there  is  no  evidence  against  his  title  to  it. 
No  copy  of  the  letter  he  speaks  of  is  preserved  among  the  pa- 
pers and  volumes  which  the  compiler  has  in  his  possession.  As 
secrecy  was  essential  in  effecting  the  proposed  object,  no  men- 
tion is  of  course  made  of  it  in  his  general  correspondence  at  the 
time.  It  failed,  as  is  well  known,  from  the  delay  which  occur- 
red, and  which  enabled  Lord  Howe  to  place  his  fleet  and  trans- 
ports in  safety. 

From  Nantes,  Jones  proceeded  in  the  Ranger  for  Quiberon 
Bay,  whither  "  he  convoyed  some  American  vessels,  that  desired 
to  sail  out  under  the  protection  of  the  French  squadron  in  that 
road,  commanded  by  Monsieur  La  Motte  Picquet.  From  that 
brave  officer,  Captain  Jones  claimed  and  obtained  the  first  sa- 
lute the  flag  of  America  ever  received.  Some  days  afterwards, 
he  claimed  and  obtained  the  same  honour  from  Count  D'Orvil- 
liers,  commander  in  chief  of  the  fleet  at  Brest.  Both  these 
salutes  preceded  the  publication  of  the  treaty  of  alliance."* 

This  first  salute  was  not  obtained,  however,  without  some  di- 
plomacy and  negotiation,  in  which  Jones  showed  both  firmness 
and  address.  The  following  letters  were  written  by  him  on  the 

occasion. 

"  February  14*7*,  1778. 
"  DEAR  SIR, 

'•I  am  extremely  sorry  to  give  you  fresh  trouble,  but  I  think 
the;  Admiral's  answer  of  yesterday  requires  an  explanation. 

*  Narrative  for  the  king  of  France. 


PAUL   JONES.  77 

The  haughty  English  return  gun  for  gun  to  foreign  officers  of 
equal  rank,  and  two  less  only  to  captains  by  flag-officers.  It  is 
true,  my  command  at  present  is  not  important,  yet,  as  the  senior 
American  officer  at  present  in  Europe,  it  is  my  duty  to  claim  an 
equal  return  of  respect  to  the  flag  of  the  United  States  that  would 
be  shown  to  any  other  flag  whatever. 

"  I  therefore  take  the  liberty  of  enclosing  an  appointment, 
perhaps  as  respectable  as  any  which  the  French  Admiral  can 
produce ;  besides  which,  I  have  others  in  my  possession. 

"  If,  however,  he  persists  in  refusing  to  return  an  equal  sa- 
lute, I  will  accept  of  two  guns  less,  as  I  have  not  the  rank  of 
Admiral. 

"  It  is  my  opinion,  that  he  would  return  four  less  to  a  priva- 
teer or  a  merchant  ship ;  therefore,  as  I  have  been  honoured 
oftener  than  once  with  a  chief  command  of  ships  of  war,  I  can- 
not, in  honour,  accept  of  the  same  terms  of  respect. 

"You  will  singularly  oblige  me  by  waiting  upon  the  Admi- 
ral ;  and  I  ardently  hope  you  will  succeed  in  the  application, 
else  I  shall  be  under  a  necessity  of  departing  without  coming 
into  the  bay.     I  have  the  honour  to  be,  <fcc.  &c. 
"  To  WILLIAM  CARMICHAEL,  Esq. 

"  N.  B. — Though  thirteen  guns  is  your  greatest  salute  in 
America,  yet  if  the  French  Admiral  should  prefer  a  greater 
number,  he  has  his  choice,  on  conditions." 

Writing  to  Mr.  Jonathan  Williams  on  the  following  day,  he  says, 
"  I  propose  to  salute  the  Admiral  in  open  day ;  that  no  evasion 
may  afterwards  be  made."  He  wrote  as  follows  to  the  Marine 
Committee,  on  the  22d  February.  "  I  am  happy  in  having  it 
in  my  power  to  congratulate  you  on  my  having  seen  the  Amer- 
ican flag,  for  the  first  time,  recognised,  in  the  fullest  and  com- 
pletes! manner  by  the  flag  of  France.  I  was  off  their  bay  the 
13th,  and  sent  my  boat  in  the  next  day,  to  know  if  the  Admiral 
would  return  my  salute.  He  answered  that  he  would  return  to 
me,  as  the  senior  American  continental  officer  in  Europe,  the 
same  salute  which  he  was  authorized  bv  his  court  to  return  to 


78  PAUL    JONES. 

an  Admiral  of  Holland,  or  of  any  other  Republic,  which  was 
four  guns  less  than  the  salute  given.  I  hesitated  at  this  ;  for  1 
had  demanded  gun  for  gun.  Therefore,  I  anchored  in  the  en- 
trance of  the  bay,  at  a  distance  from  the  French  fleet ;  but  after 
a  very  particular  inquiry  on  the  14th,  finding  that  he  had  really 
told  the  truth,  I  was  induced  to  accept  of  his  offer,  the  more  so, 
as  it  was  in  fact  an  acknowledgment  of  American  Independence. 
The  wind  being  contrary,  and  blowing  hard,  it  was  after  sunset 
before  the  Ranger  got  near  enough  to  salute  La  Motte  Picquet 
with  thirteen  guns  ;  which  he  returned  with  nine.  However, 
to  put  the  matter  beyond  a  doubt,  I  did  not  suffer  the  Indepen- 
dence to  salute  till  next  morning,  when  I  sent  the  Admiral  word 
that  I  Should  sail  through  his  fleet  in  the  brig,  and  would  salute 
him  in  open  day.  He  was  exceedingly  pleased,  and  returned 
the  compliment  also  with  nine  guns." 

"  I  have  in  contemplation  several  enterprises  of  some  impor- 
tance. *  *  *  When  an  enemy  thinks  a  design  against  him  im- 
probable, he  can  always  be  surprised  and  attacked  with  advan- 
tage. It  is  true,  I  must  run  great  risk ;  but  no  gallant  action 
was  ever  performed  without  danger.  Therefore,  though  I  can- 
not ensure  success,  I  will  endeavour  to  deserve  it." 

Writing  on  the  same  date  to  the  secret  committee,  thanking 
them  for  the  flattering  terms  in  which  he  had  been  recommend- 
ed to  the  commissioners,  and  his  services  been  spoken  of,  he  en- 
closed an  ode  of  a  patriotic  character,  which  had  been  written 
in  France,  begging  that  it  might  be  laid  before  Congress,  and 
intimating  a  hope  that  the  author  would  be  considered  worthy 
of  the  attention  of  that  body.  What  notice  that  grave  assembly 
took  of  the  metrical  effusion  and  its  composer,  does  not  appear. 

He  says  that  at  this  time  "  Count  D'Orvilliers,  through 
whom  he  communicated  his  idea  for  an  expedition  to  America 
to  M.  De  Sartine,  offered,  on  account  of  the  smallness  of  his 
frigate,  to  procure  for  him  a  commission  of  Captain,  in  the 
Royal  Navy  of  France,  which  he  refused." 

He  sailed  from  Brest  on  the  10th  April,  on  his  first  memora- 
ble c~uise.  The  commissioners  had  no  exact  idea  of  his  inten- 


PAUL  JONES.  79 

tions.  He  "  at  first  had  thoughts  of  striking  a  blow  on  the 
south  side  of  England ;  but  being  detained  for  some  time  by 
contrary  and  stormy  winds  at  Brest,  he  abandoned  that 
scheme."  The  most  ample  and  interesting  account  of  this 
cruise  is  given  in  his  letter -to  the  American  Commissioners, 
written  on  the  27th  May,  from  Brest.  It  is  said  to  be  confirm- 
ed, in  all  its  details,  by  log-books  in  the  possession  of  individuals 
in  Scotland.  It  has  been,  very  frequently  published,  but  its  in- 
sertion entire  is  essential  here. 

"  I  have  now  to  fulfil  the  promise  made  in  my  last,  by  giving 
you  an  account  of  my  late  expedition. 

"  I  sailed  from  Brest  the  10th  of  April ;  my  plan  was  exten- 
sive, I  therefore  did  not  at  the  beginning  wish  to  encumber  my- 
self with  prisoners.  On  the  14th  I  took  a  brigantine  between 
Scilly  and  Cape  Clear,  bound  for  Ostend,  with  a  cargo  of  flax- 
seed  for  Ireland,  sunk  her,  and  proceeded  into  St.  George's 
Channel. 

"  On  the  17th  I  took  the  ship  Lord  Chatham,  bound  from 
London  to  Dublin,  with  a  cargo  consisting  of  porter,  and  a 
variety  of  merchandise,  and  almost  within  sight  of  her  port ; 
this  ship  I  manned  and  ordered  for  Brest. 

"  Towards  the  evening  of  the  day  following,  the  weather  had 
a  piomising  appearance,  and,  the  wind  being  favourable,  I 
stood  over  from  the  Isle  of  Man  with  an  intention  to  make  a 
descent  at  Wlntehaven ;  at  ten  I  was  off  the  harbour  with  a 
party  of  volunteers,  and  had  every  thing  in  readiness  to  land  ; 
but  before  eleven  the  wind  greatly  increased  and  shifted,  so  as 
to  blow  directly  upon  the  shore  ;  the  sea  increased  of  course, 
and  it  became  impossible  to  effect  a  landing.  This  obliged  me 
to  carry  all  possible  sail  so  as  to  clear  the  land,  and  to  await  a 
more  favourable  opportunity. 

"  On  the  18th,  in  Glentinebay,  on  the  south  coast  of  Scot- 
land, I  met  with  a  revenue  wherry ;  it  being  the  common  prac- 
tice of  these  vessels  to  board  merchant  ships,  the  Ranger  then 
having  no  external  appearance  of  war,  it  was  expected  that  this 


80  PAUL    JONES. 

rover  would  have  come  alongside  ;  I  was,  however,  mistaken, 
for  though  the  men  were  at  their  quarters,  yet  this  vessel  out- 
sailed the  Ranger,  and  got  clear  in  spite  of  a  severe  cannonade. 

"  The  next  morning,  off  the  Mull  of  Galloway,  I  found  my- 
self so  near  a  Scotch  coasting  schooner,  loaded  with  barley,  that 
I  could  not  avoid  sinking  her.  Understanding  that  there  were 
ten  or  twelve  sail  of  merchant  ships,  besides  a  Tender  brigan- 
tine,  with  a  number  of  impressed  men  on  board,  at  anchor  in 
Lochryan,  in  Scotland,  I  thought  this  an  enterprise  worthy  my 
attention  ;  but  the  wind,  which  at  the  first  would  have  served 
equally  well  to  have  sailed  in  or  out  of  the  Loch,  shifted  in  a 
hard  squall,  so  as  to  blow  almost  directly  in,  with  an  appearance 
of  bad  weather.  I  was  therefore  obliged  to  abandon  my  project. 

"  Seeing  a  cutter  off  the  lee-bow  stearing  for  the  Clyde,  I 
gave  chase,  in  hopes  of  cutting  her  off;  but  finding  my  endea- 
vours ineffectual,  I  pursued  no  farther  than  the  Rock  of  Ailsa. 
In  the  evening  I  fell  in  with  a  sloop  from  Dublin,  which  I  sunk, 
to  prevent  intelligence. 

"  The  next  day,  the  21st,  being  near  Carrickfergus,  a  fish 
ing-boat  came  off,  which  I  detained.  I  saw  a  ship  at  anchor  in 
the  road,  which  I  was  informed  by  the  fishermen  was  the  British 
ship  of  war  Drake,  of  twenty  guns.  I  determined  to  attack 
her  in  the  night ;  my  plan  was  to  overlay  her  cable,  and  to  fall 
upon  her  bow,  so  as  to  have  all  her  decks  open  and  exposed  to 
our  musquetry,  &c. ;  at  the  same  time,  it  was  my  intention  to 
have  secured  the  enemy  by  grapplings,  so  that,  had  they  cut 
their  cables,  they  would  not  thereby  have  attained  an  advan- 
tage. The  wind  was  high,  and  unfortunately  the  anchor  was 
not  let  go  so  soon  as  the  order  was  given,  so  that  the  Ranger 
was  brought  to  upon  the  enemy's  quarter  at  the  distance  of  half  a 
cable's  length.  We  had  made  no  warlike  appearance,  of  course 
had  given  no  alarm ;  this  determined  me  to  cut  immediately, 
which  might  appear  as  if  the  cable  had  parted,  and  at  the  same 
time  enable  me,  a/ter  making  a  tack  out  of  the  Loch,  to  return 
with  the  same  prospect  of  advantage  which  I  had  at  the  first.  1 
was,  however,  prevented  from  returning,  as  I  with  difficulty 


PAUL   JONES.  81 

weathered  the  lighthouse  on  the  lee-side  of  the  Loch,  and  as 
the  gale  increased.  The  weather  now  became  so  very  stormy 
and  severe,  and  the  sea  ran  so  high,  that  I  was  obliged  to  take 
shelter  under  the  south  shore  of  Scotland. 

"  The  22d  introduced  fair  weather,  though  the  three  king- 
doms were,  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach,  covered  with  snow. 
I  now  resolved  once  more  to  attempt  Whitehaven ;  but  the 
wind  became  very  light,  so  that  the  ship  would  not  in  proper 
time  approach  so  near  as  I  had  intended.  At  midnight  I  left 
the  ship  with  two  boats  and  thirty-one  volunteers ;  when  we 
reached  the  outer  pier,  the  day  began  to  dawn ;  I  would  not, 
however,  abandon  my  enterprise,  but  despatched  one  boat  under 
the  direction  of  Mr.  Hill  and  Lieutenant  Wallingsford,  with  the 
necessary  combustibles  to  set  fire  to  the  shipping  on  the  north 
side  of  the  harbour,  while  I  went  with  the  other  party  to  attempt, 
the  south  side.  I  was  successful  in  scaling  the  walls  and 
spiking  up  all  the  cannon  on  the  first  fort ;  finding  the  sentinels 
shut  up  in  the  guard-house,  they  were  secured  without  being 
hurt.  Having  fixed  sentinels,  I  now  took  with  me  one  man 
only,  (Mr.  Green,)  and  spiked  up  all  the  cannon  on  the  southern 
fort,  distant  from  the  other  a  quarter  of  a  mile. 

"  On  my  return  from  this  business,  I  naturally  expected  to 
see  the  fire  of  the  ships  on  the  north  side,  as  well  as  to  find  my 
own  party  with  every  thing  in  readiness  to  set  fire  to  the  ship- 
ping on  the  south  ;  instead  of  this,  I  found  the  boat  under  the 
direction  of  Mr.  Hill  and  Mr.  Wallingsford  returned,  and  the 
party  in  some  confusion,  their  light  having  burnt  out  at  the  in- 
stant when  it  became  necessary.* 


*  Jones  did  not  soon  surmount  the  disappointment  occasioned  by  this 
misunderstanding  on  the  part  of  his  officers.  In  a  memorial  to  Con- 
gress, he  says,  "  My  first  object  was  to  secure  an  exchange  of  prisoners 
in  Europe,  and  my  second  to  put  an  end,  by  one  good  fire  in  England 
of  shipping,  to  all  the  burnings  in  America.  I  succeeded  in  the  first, 
even  by  means  far  more  glorious  than  my  most  flattering  ideas  had  ex- 

10 


82  PAUL   JONES. 

"  By  the  strangest  fatality,  my  own  party  were  in  the  same 
situation,  the  candles  being  all  burnt  out.  The  day  too  came 
on  apace,  yet  I  would  by  no  means  retreat  while  any  hopes  of 
success  remained.  Having  again  placed  sentinels,  a  light  was 
obtained  at  a  house  disjoined  from  the  town,  and  a  fire  was 
kindled  in  the  steerage  of  a  large  ship,  which  was  surrounded 
by  at  least  a  hundred  and  fifty  others,  chiefly  from  two  to  four 
hundred  tons  burthen,  and  lying  side  by  side,  aground,  unsur- 
rounded  by  the  water. 

"  There  were,  besides,  from  seventy  to  a  hundred  large 
ships  in  the  north  arm  of  the  harbour,  aground,  clear  of  the 
water,  and  divided  from  the  rest  only  by  a  stone  pier  of  a  ship's 
height.  I  should  have  kindled  fires  in  other  places  if  the  time 
had  permitted  ;  as  it  did  not,  our  care  was  to  prevent  the  one 
kindled  from  being  easily  extinguished.  After  some  search,  a 
barrel  of  tar  was  found,  and  poured  into  the  flames,  which  now 
ascended  from  all  the  hatchways.  The  inhabitants  began  to 
appear  in  thousands,  and  individuals  ran  hastily  towards  us.  I 
stood  between  them  and  the  ship  on  fire,  with  a  pistol  in  my 
hand,  and  ordered  them  to  retire,  which  they  did  with  precipita- 
tion. The  flames  had  already  caught  the  rigging,  and  began 
to  ascend  the  main-mast ;  the  sun  was  a  full  hour's  march  above 
the  horizon,  and  as  sleep  no  longer  ruled  the  world,  it  was  time 
to  retire.  We  re-embarked  without  opposition,  having  released 
a  number  of  prisoners,  as  our  boats  could  not  carry  them.  Af- 
ter all  my  people  had  embarked,  I  stood  upon  the  pier  for  a 


pected  when  I  left  France.  In  the  second,  I  endeavoured  to  deserve 
success  ;  but  a  wise  officer  of  mine  observed,  that  '  it  was  a  rash  thing, 
and  that  nothing  could  be  got  by  burning  poor  people's  property.'  I 
must,  however,  do  him  the  justice  to  mention  his  acknowledgment,  that 
he  had  no  turn  for  enterprise  ;  and  I  must  also  do  equal  justice  to  my 
former  officers  in  the  Providence  and  the  Alfred,  by  declaring,  that  had 
they  been  with  me  in  the  Ranger,  two  hundred  and  fifty,  or  three  hun- 
dred sail  of  large  ships  at  Whitehaven  would  have  been  laid  in  ashes." 


PAUL   JONES.  83 

considerable  space,  yet  no  person  advanced :  I  saw  all  the 
eminences  round  the  town  covered  with  the  amazed  inhabitants. 

"  When  we  had  rowed  to  a  considerable  distance  from  the 
shore,  the  English  began  to  run  in  vast  numbers  to  their  forts ; 
their  disappointment  may  easily  be  imagined  when  they  found, 
I  suppose,  at  least  thirty  heavy  cannon  (the  instruments  of  their 
vengeance)  rendered  useless.  At  length,  however,  they  began 
to  fire,  having,  as  I  apprehend,  either  brought  down  ships'  guns, 
or  used  one  or  two  cannon  which  lay  on  the  beach  at  the  foot  of 
the  walls,  dismounted,  and  which  had  not  been  spiked.  They 
fired  with  no  direction,  and  the  shot  falling  short  of  the  boats, 
instead  of  doing  us  any  damage,  afforded  some  diversion  ;  which 
my  people  could  not  help  showing,  by  discharging  their  pistols, 
&c.  in  return  of  the  salute.  Had  it  been  possible  to  have  land- 
ed a  few  hours  sooner,  my  success  would  have  been  complete. 
Not  a  single  ship,  out  of  more  than  two  hundred,  could  possibly 
have  escaped,  and  all  the  world  would  not  have  been  able  to 
save  the  town.  What  was  done,  however,  is  sufficient  to  show, 
that  not  all  their  boasted  navy  can  protect  their  own  coasts ; 
and  that  the  scenes  of  distress,  which  they  have  occasioned  in 
America,  may  be  soon  brought  home  to  their  own  door.  One 
of  my  people  was  missing ;  and  must,  I  fear,  have  fallen  into 
the  enemies'  hands  after  our  departure.*  I  was  pleased  that  in 
this  business  we  neither  killed  nor  wounded  any  person.  I 
brought  off  three  prisoners  as  a  sample. 

"We  now  stood  over  for  the  Scotch  shore;  and  I  landed  at 
noon  at  St.  Mary's  Isle,  with  one  boat  only,  and  a  very  small 
party.  The  motives  which  induced  me  to  land  there,  are  ex- 


*  In  the  Ranger's  log-book  this  man  is  named  David  Smith.  He  is 
probably  the  same  person  who,  under  the  name  of  Freeman,  gave  in- 
formation at  several  houses  in  a  street  adjoining  the  piers,  that  fire  had 
been  set  to  a  ship,  and  afterwards  other  information  that  appears  sub- 
stantially correct.  He  must  have  remained  on  shore  voluntarily.  Note 
in  the  Edinburgh  Life. 


84  PAUL   JONES. 

plained  in  the  within  copy  of  a  letter  which  I  have  addressed  to 
the  Countess  of  Selkirk,  dated  the  8th  instant. 

"  On  the  morning  of  the  24th,  I  was  again  off  Carrickfergus, 
and  would  have  gone  in,  had  I  not  seen  the  Drake  preparing 
to  come  out.  It  was  very  moderate,  and  the  Drake's  boat  was 
sent  out  to  reconnoitre  the  Ranger.  As  the  boat  advanced,  I 
kept  the  ship's  stern  directly  towards  her  ;  and  though  they  had 
a  spy-glass  in  the  boat,  they  came  on  within  hail,  and  along 
side.  When  the  officer  came  on  the  quarter  deck,  he  was 
greatly  surprised  to  find  himself  a  prisoner  ;  although  an  ex- 
press had  arrived  from  Whitehaven  the  night  before.  I  now 
understood,  what  I  had  before  imagined,  that  the  Drake  came 
out  in  consequence  of  this  information,  with  volunteers,  against 
the  Ranger.  The  officer  told  me  also,  that  they  had  taken  up 
the  Ranger's  anchor.  The  Drake  was  attended  by  five  small 
vessels  full  of  people,  who  were  led  by  curiosity  to  see  an 
engagement.  But  when  they  saw  the  Drake's  boat  at  the 
Ranger's  stern,  they  wisely  put  back. 

"Alarm  smokes  now  appeared  in  great  abundance,  extending 
along  on  both  sides  of  the  channel.  The  tide  was  unfavourable, 
so  that  the  Drake  worked  out  but  slowly.  This  obliged  me  to 
run  down  several  times,  and  to  lay  with  courses  up,  and  main- 
topsail  to  the  mast.  At  length  the  Drake  weathered  the  point, 
and  having  led  her  out  to  about  mid-channel,  I  suffered  her  to 
come  within  hail.  The  Drake  hoisted  English  colours,  and  at 
the  same  instant,  the  American  stars  were  displayed  on  board 
the  Ranger.  I  expected  that  preface  had  been  now  at  an  end, 
but  the  enemy  soon  after  hailed,  demanding  what  ship  it  was  ? 
I  directed  the  master  to  answer,  "  the  American  Continental 
ship  Ranger  ;  that  we  waited  for  them,  and  desired  that  they 
would  come  on  ;  the  sun  was  now  little  more  than  an  hour  from 
setting,  it  was  therefore  time  to  begin."  The  Drake  being 
astern  of  the  Ranger,  I  ordered  the  helm  up,  and  gave  her  the 
first  broadside.  The  action  was  warm,  close,  and  obstinate.  It 
lasted  an  hour  and  four  minutes,  when  the  enemy  called  for 
quarters  ;  her  fore  and  main-topsail  yards  being  both  cut  away, 


PAUL   JONES.  85 

and  down  on  the  cap ;  the  top-gallant  yard  and  mizen-gaff  both 
hanging  up  and  down  along  the  mast ;  the  second  ensign  which 
they  had  hoisted  shot  away,  and  hanging  on  the  quarter  gallery 
in  the  water ;  the  jib  shot  away,  and  hanging  in  the  water  ;  her 
sails  and  rigging  entirely  cut  to  pieces ;  her  masts  and  yards  all 
wounded,  and  her  hull  also  very  much  galled.  I  lost  only  Lieu- 
tenant Wallingsford  and  one  seaman,  John  Dougall,  killed,  and 
six  wounded  ;  among  whom  are  the  gunner,  Mr.  Falls,  and  Mr. 
Powers,  a  midshipman,  who  lost  his  arm.  One  of  the  wounded, 
Nathaniel  Wills,  is  since  dead :  the  rest  will  recover.  The  loss 
of  the  enemy  in  killed  and  wounded,  was  far  greater.  All  the 
prisoners  allow,  that  they  came  out  with  a  number  not  less  than 
a  hundred  and  sixty  men :  and  many  of  them  affirm  that  they 
amounted  to  a  hundred  and  ninety.  The  medium  may,  perhaps, 
be  the  most  exact  account ;  and  by  that  it  will  appear  that  they 
lost  in  killed  and  wounded,  forty-two  men.  The  captain  and 
lieutenant  were  amo.ng  the  wounded;  the  former,  having  re- 
ceived a  musket  ball  in  the  head  the  minute  before  they  called 
for  quarters,  lived,  and  was  sensible  some  time  after  my  people 
boarded  the  prize.  The  lieutenant  survived  two  days.  They 
were  buried  with  the  honours  due  to  their  rank,  anji  with  the 
respect  due  to  their  memory. 

"  The  night  and  almost  the  whole  day  after  the  action  being 
moderate,  greatly  facilitated  the  refitting  of  both  ships.  A  large 
brigantine  was  so  near  the  Drake  in  the  afternoon,  that  I  was 
obliged  to  bring  her  to.  She  belonged  to  Whitehaven,  and 
was  bound  for  Norway. 

"  I  had  thought  of  returning  by  the  south  channel ;  but  the  wind 
shifting,  I  determined  to  pass  by  the  north,  and  round  the  west 
coast  of  Ireland.  This  brought  me  once  more  off  Belfast 
Lough,  on  the  evening  after  the  engagement.  It  was  now  time 
to  release  the  honest  fishermen,  whom  I  took  up  here  on  the 
21st.  And  as  the  poor  fellows  had  lost  their  boat,  she  having 
sunk  in  the  late  stormy  weather,  I  was  happy  in  having  it  in  my 
power  to  give  them  the  necessary  sum  to  purchase  every  thing 
new  which  they  had  lost.  I  gave  them  also  a  good  boat  to 


86  PAUL    JONES. 

transport  themselves  ashore ;  and  sent  with  them  two  infirm 
men,  on  whom  I  bestowed  the  last  guinea  in  my  possession,  to 
defray  their  travelling  expenses  to  their  proper  home  in  Dublin. 
They  took  with  them  one  of  the  Drake's  sails,  which  would  suf- 
ficiently explain  what  had  happened  to  the  volunteers.  The 
grateful  fishermen  were  in  raptures  ;  and  expressed  their  joy  in 
three  huzzas  as  they  passed  the  Ranger's  quarter. 

"I  again  met  with  contrary  winds  in  the  mouth  of  the  North 
Channel,  but  nothing  remarkable  happened,  till  on  the  morning 
of  the  5th,  current,  Ushant  then  bearing  S.  E.  by  S.  distance 
fifteen  leagues,  when  seeing  a  sail  to  leeward  steering  for  the 
Channel,  the  wind  being  favourable  for  Brest,  and  the  distance 
trifling,  I  resolved  to  give  chase,  having  the  Drake  in  tow.  I 
informed  them  of  my  intentions,  and  ordered  them  to  cast  off. 
They  cut  the  hawser.  The  Ranger  in  the  chase  went  lasking 
between  N.  N.  E.  and  N.  N.  W.  It  lasted  an  hour  and  ten 
minutes,  when  the  chase  was  hailed  and  proved  a  Swede.  I 
immediately  hauled  by  the  wind  to  the  southward. 

"After  cutting  the  hawser,  the  Drake  went  from  the  wind  for 
some  time,  then  hauled  close  by  the  wind,  steering  from  S.  S. 
E.  to  S.  S.  W.  as  the  wind  permitted,  so  that  when  the  Ranger 
spoke  the  chase,  the  Drake  was  scarcely  perceptible.  In  the 
course  of  the  day  many  large  ships  appeared,  steering  into  the 
Channel,  but  the  extraordinary  evolutions  of  the  Drake  made  it 
impossible  for  me  to  avail  myself  of  these  favourable  circum- 
stances. Towards  noon  it  became  very  squally,  the  wind  back- 
ed from  the  S.  W.  to  the  W.  The  Ranger  had  come  up  with 
the  Drake,  and  was  nearly  abreast  of  her,  though  considerably 
to  the  leeward,  when  the  wind  shifted.  The  Drake  was,  how- 
ever, kept  by  the  wind,  though,  as  I  afterward  understood,  they 
knew  the  Ranger  and  saw  the  signal  which  she  had  hoisted. 
After  various  evolutions  and  signals  in  the  night,  I  gave  chase 
to  a  Sail  which  appeared  bearing  S.  S.  W.  the  next  morning  at 
a  great  distance.  The  chase  discovered  no  intention  to  speak 
with  the  Ranger ;  she  was,  however,  at  length  brought  to,  and 
proved  to  be  the  Drake.  I  immediately  put  Lieutenant  Simp- 


PAUL   JONES.  87 

son  under  suspension  and  arrest,  for  disobedience  of  my  orders, 
dated  the  26th  ult.  a  copy  whereof  is  here  enclosed.  On  the 
8th,  both  ships  anchored  safe  in  this  Road,  the  Ranger  having 
been  absent  only  twenty-eight  days." 

The  surprise  produced  in  Great  Britain  by  this  daring  and 
successful  attempt  upon  her  coasts,  must  have  been  as  great  as 
the  latter  was  unexpected.*  His  objects  were  distinctly  to  strike 
some  bold  stroke,  which  should  inspire  fear  of  the  American 
arms,  to  retaliate  for  the  burning  of  towns  and  destruction  of 
private  property,  to  destroy  as  much  public  property  as  he  could, 
and  to  secure  a  number  of  prisoners,  as  hostages  for  the  better 
treatment  of  the  captured  Americans,  who  were  suffering  miser- 
ably in  the  jails  and  hulks  of  the  enemy.  He  had  wisely  calcu- 
lated on  the  effect  of  sudden  measures,  and  the  total  security 
and  contemptuous  confidence  of  the  people,  of  the  fast-anchored 
isle.  The  unwarlike  character  of  the  inhabitants  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  Frith,  which  had  not  been  entered  for  centuries  by  the 
prow  of  an  invader,  rendered  the  chances  of  resistance  to  a 
brisk  attack  very  small. t  Still  the  extent  of  Jones'  success  can- 


*  It  would  seem,  however,  from  the  following  extract  from  London 
papers  of  the  22d  February,  1778,  that  Jones  excited  some  attention 
in  England,  before  his  descent  upon  Whitehaven.  Perhaps  the  date 
may  be  erroneous  as  to  the  year. 

"  Paul  Jones  is  about  thirty-six  years  of  age,  of  a  middling  stature, 
well  proportioned,  with  an  agreeable  countenance  ;  his  conversation 
shows  him  a  man  of  talents,  and  that  he  has  got  a  liberal  education. 
His  letters  in  foreign  Gazettes  show  he  can  fight  with  the  pen  as  well 
as  the  sword.  The  famous  Captain  Cunningham  is  with  him,  who 
escaped  out  of  an  English  prison." 

t  The  worthy  and  cautious  citizens  of  Aberdeen  were  the  only  per- 
sons greatly  alarmed  on  this  occasion.  In  the  Scots  Magazine  for 
May,  1778,  we  find  the  following  paragraph  : — 

"  On  receiving  at  Aberdeen  intelligence  of  the  plunder  of  Lord  Sel- 
kirk's house  and  the  landing  at  Whitehaven,  a  hand-bill  was  circulated 


88  PAUL  JONES. 

not  fail  to  excite  astonishment.  It  was  one  of  the  most  impu- 
dent attacks  since  the  time  of  the  sea-kings,  and  it  is  no  wonder 
that  those  whose  eyes  were  so  rudely  opened  to  a  discovery  of 
their  weakness,  stigmatized  it  as  inglorious,  and  its  conductor 
as  a  pirate.  It  would  be  a  piece  of  supererogation  to  offer  any 
vindication  of  Jones,  for  doing  his  adopted  country  such  good 
service,  by  the  retaliatory  descent  upon  Whitehaven.  It  was 
one  which  he  alone  could  properly  execute,  from  his  thorough 
acquaintance  with  the  localities.  The  sentimental  disgust  of 
those  who  censured  him  for  availing  himself  of  that  very  know- 
ledge, and  of  "  stifling  his  early  associations,"  is  natural  enough. 
But  war  is  not  waged  upon  sentimental  principles.  A  notion 
prevailed  at  the  time  that  Jones'  vessel  was  a  privateer.  He 
was  in  command  of  a  United  States  vessel  of  war,  fully  com- 
missioned ;  and  if  in  performing  his  duty  to  the  utmost,  he  con- 
quered the  repugnance  he  might  have  felt  at  making  a  hostile 
entry  among  the  scenes  of  his  infancy,  the  merit  of  his  victories 
is  but  the  more  enhanced  when  he  is  considered  as  an  officer. 
Praise  too  has  been  so  generally  awarded  to  him  for  the  mea- 
sures he  afterwards  took,  to  redeem  the  plate  of  the  Countess 
of  Selkirk  and  restore  it  to  its  owners,  that  it  is  unnecessary  to 
apologize  for  a  transaction  which  he  has  so  satisfactorily  ex- 
plained. Other  officers  have  enjoyed  fair  reputations,  who 
made  no  such  sacrifices  to  restore  private  property  taken  by 
those  under  their  command.  One  of  his  first  acts  on  returning 
to  Brest,  was  to  address  the  countess  on  the  subject,  in  the  well 


by  order  of  the  Magistrates,  to  set  on  foot  an  association  of  the  inhabi- 
tants for  defence,  and  in  a  few  days  120  were  enrolled." 

The  affair  never  went  farther.  Another  American  vessel,  which 
landed  a  party,  and  plundered  the  house  of  Mr.  Gordon,  near  Banff, 
must  have  quickened  their  apprehensions  ;  but  no  alarm  was  seriously 
felt  till  the  squadron  of  Paul  Jones  appeared  in  the  frith  of  Forth. 
Even  then  the  panic  was  short-lived. 

Note  in  the  Edinburgh  life. 


PAUL   JONES.  89 

known  letter,  which  we  shall  here  insert.  To  be  assured  of  its 
reaching  the  lady,  he  forwarded  triplicates,  one  of  which  was 
enclosed  open  to  Dr.  Franklin,  for  his  perusal.  In  the  letter 
enclosing  it,  he  says  :  "  I  cannot  but  feel  myself  hurt,  by  the 
dirty  insinuation  of  the  enemy,  that  my  enterprise  at  White- 
haven  was  in  consequence  of  a  capital  sum,  paid  me  in  hand  by 
the  court  of  France.  They  have  more  visits  of  the  same  kind  to 
expect,  if  I  am  not  deprived  of  the  means  of  making  them,  and 
that  too,  without  my  having  either  a  certainty,  or  a  hope  of  gain." 

"To  THE  COUNTESS  OF  SELKIRK. 

"Ranger,  Brest,  May  8th  1778. 
"  MADAM, 

"  It  cannot  be  too  much  lamented,  that  in  the  profession  of 
arms,  the  officer  of  fine  feeling  and  of  real  sensibility  should  be 
under  the  necessity  of  winking  at  any  action  of  persons  under  his 
command,  which  his  heart  cannot  approve  ;  but  the  reflection 
is  doubly  severe,  when  he  finds  himself  obliged,  in  appearance, 
to  countenance  such  actions  by  his  authority. 

'  This  hard  case  was  mine,  when,  on  the  23d  of  April  last,  J 
landed  on  St.  Mary's  Isle.  Knowing  Lord  Selkirk's  interest 
with  his  king,  and  esteeming,  as  I  do,  his  private  character,  I 
wished  to  make  him  the  happy  instrument  of  alleviating  the  hor- 
rors of  hopeless  captivity,  when  the  brave  are  overpowered  and 
made  prisoners  of  war. 

"  It  was,  perhaps,  fortunate  for  you,  Madam,  that  he  was  from 
home ;  for  it  was  my  intention  to  have  taken  him  on  board  the 
Ranger,  and  to  have  detained  him  until,  through  his  means,  a 
general  and  fair  exchange  of  prisoners,  as  well  in  Europe  as  in 
America,  had  been  effected. 

"  When  I  was  informed,  by  some  men  whom  I  met  at  landing, 
that  his  lordship  was  absent,  I  walked  back  to  my  boat,  deter- 
mined to  leave  the  island.  By  the  way,  however,  some  offi- 
cers, who  were  with  me,  could  not  forbear  expressing  their  dis  - 
content ;  observing  that,  in  America,  no  delicacy  was  shown  by 
the  English,  who  took  away  all  sorts  of  moveable  property— 

11 


90  PAUL   JONES. 

setting  fire,  not  only  to  towns  and  to  the  houses  of  the  rich, 
without  distinction,  but  not  even  sparing  the  wretched  hamlets 
and  milch-cows  of  the  poor  and  helpless,  at  the  approach  of  an 
inclement  winter.  That  party  had  been  with  me,  the  same 
morning,  at  Whitehaven ;  some  complaisance,  therefore,  was 
their  due.  I  had  but  a  moment  to  think  how  I  might  gratify 
them,  and  at  the  same  time  do  your  ladyship  the  least  injury.  I 
charged  the  two  officers  to  permit  none  of  the  seamen  to  enter 
the  house,  or  to  hurt  any  thing  about  it — to  treat  you,  Madam, 
with  the  utmost  respect — to  accept  of  the  plate  which  was  of- 
fered— and  to  come  away  without  making  a  search,  or  demand- 
ing any  thing  else. 

"I  am  induced  to  believe  that  I  was  punctually  obeyed;  since 
I  am  informed,  that  the  plate  which  they  brought  away  is  far 
short  of  the  quantity  expressed  in  the  inventory  which  accom- 
panied it.  I  have  gratified  my  men  ;  and  when  the  plate  is  sold, 
I  shall  become  the  purchaser,  and  will  gratify  my  own  feelings 
by  restoring  it  to  you,  by  such  conveyance  as  you  shall  please  to 
direct. 

"  Had  the  earl  been  on  board  the  Ranger  the  following  even- 
ing, he  would  have  seen  the  awful  pomp  and  dreadful  carnage  of 
a  sea  engagement ;  both  affording  ample  subject  for  the  pencil, 
as  well  as  melancholy  reflection  to  the  contemplative  mind. 
Humanity  starts  back  from  such  scenes  of  horror,  and  cannot 
sufficiently  execrate  the  vile  promoters  of  this  detestable  war. 

"  For  they,  'twas  they  unsheath'd  the  ruthless  blade, 
And  Heaven  shall  ask  the  havoc  it  has  made." 

"  The  British  ship  of  war  Drake,  mounting  twenty  guns,  with 
more  than  her  full  complement  of  officers  and  men,  was  our 
opponent.  The  ships  met,  and  the  advantage  was  disputed  with 
great  fortitude  on  each  side,  for  an  hour  and  four  minutes,  when 
the  gallant  commander  of  the  Drake  fell,  and  victory  declared 
in  favour  of  the  Ranger.  The  amiable  lieutenant  lay  mortally 
wounded,  besides  near  forty  of  the  inferior  officers  and  crew 
killed  and  wounded ;  a  melancholy  demonstration  oftheuncer- 


PAUL   JONES. 


91 


lainty  of  human  prospects,  and  of  the  sad  reverse  of  fortune 
which  an  hour  can  produce.  I  buried  them  in  a  spacious  grave, 
with  the  honours  due  to  the  memory  of  the  brave. 

"  Though  I  have  drawn  my  sword  in  the  present  generous 
struggle  for  the  rights  of  men,  yet  I  am  not  in  arms  as  an  Amer- 
ican, nor  am  I  in  pursuit  of  riches.  My  fortune  is  liberal  enough, 
having  no  wife  nor  family,  and  having  lived  long  enough  to  know 
that  riches  cannot  ensure  happiness.  I  profess  myself  a  citi/en 
of  the  world,  totally  unfettered  by  the  little,  mean  distinctions 
of  climate  or  of  country,  which  diminish  the  benevolence  of  the 
heart  and  set  bounds  to  philanthropy.  Before  this  war  was 
begun,  I  had,  at  an  early  time  of  life,  withdrawn  from  sea  ser- 
vice, in  favour  of  "  calm  contemplation  and  poetic  ease."  I 
have  sacrificed  not  only  my  favourite  scheme  of  life,  but  the  softer 
affections  of  the  heart,  and  my  prospects  of  domestic  happiness, 
and  I  am  ready  to  sacrifice  my  life  also,  with  cheerfulness,  if 
that  forfeiture  could  restore  peace  and  good  will  among  mankind. 

"As  the  feelings  of  your  gentle  bosom  cannot  but  be  congenial 
with  mine,  let  me  entreat  you,  Madam,  to  use  your  persuasive 
art,  with  your  husband's,  to  endeavour  to  stop  this  cruel  and  de- 
structive war,  in  which  Britain  never  can  succeed.  Heaven  can 
never  countenance  the  barbarous  and  unmanly  practice  of  the 
Britons  in  America,  which  savages  would  blush  at,  and  which, 
if  not  discontinued,  will  soon  be  retaliated  on  Britian  by  a  justly 
enraged  people.  Should  you  fail  in  this,  (for  I  am  persuaded 
that  you  will  attempt  it,  and  who  can  resist  the  power  of  such  an 
advocate  ?)  your  endeavours  to  effect  a  general  exchange  of  pri- 
soners will  be  an  act  of  humanity  which  will  afford  you  golden 
feelings  on  a  death-bed. 

"  I  hope  this  cruel  contest  will  soon  be  closed;  but  should  it 
continue,  I  wage  no  war  with  the  fair.  I  acknowledge  their 
force,  and  bend  before  it  with  submission.  Let  not,  therefore, 
the  amiable  Countess  of  Selkirk  regard  me  as  an  enemy ;  I  am 
ambitious  of  her  esteem  and  friendship,  and  would  do  any  thing, 
consistent  with  my  duty,  to  merit  it. 

"Ths  honour  of  a  line  from  your  hand  in  answer  to  this,  will 


92  PAUL   JONES. 

lay  me  under  a  singular  obligation  ;  and  if  I  can  render  you  any 
acceptable  service  in  France  or  elsewhere,  I  hope  you  see  into 
my  character  so  far  as  to  command  me  without  the  least  grain 
of  reserve. 

"  I  wish  to  know  exactly  the  behaviour  of  my  people,  as  I  am 
determined  to  punish  them  if  they  have  exceeded  their  liberty. 
I  have  the  honour  to  be,  with  much  esteem  and  with  profound 
respect,  Madam,  &c.  &c. 

"  JOHN  PAUL  JONES." 

As  very  general  publicity  was  given  to  this  epistle,  it  is  rather 
surprising  to  find  in  Mr.  Gouldsborough's  Naval  Chronicle, 
which  was  printed  in  1824,  the  following  loose  and  unexplained 
notice  of  the  affair.  "  It  is  said  that  Captain  Jones,  finding 
him,  (the  earl  of  Selkirk,)  absent,  took  the  family  plate,  and 
retired,  without  offering  any  other  violence  to  the  castle  or  its 
inhabitants."  It  is  a  pity,  that,  when  every  English  writer  of 
later  years  has  done  justice  to  Jones,  so  far  as  relates  to  his 
conduct  in  this  matter,  an  American  work  should  be  in  the 
hands  of  any  of  our  young  officers,  which  might  possibly  mis- 
lead them,  when  arraying  in  the  mind's  eye  the  characters  of 
those  whose  deeds  are  our  country's  inheritance,  and  whose 
examples  they  may  desire  to  emulate. 

Dr.  Franklin  wrote  to  Jones,  on  receiving  the  copy  of  the 
letter  forwarded  to  him,  that  "  it  was  a  gallant  letter,  which 
must  give  her  ladyship  a  high  opinion  of  his  generosity,  and 
nobleness  of  mind."  The  sage  knew  that  it  was  in  character  ; 
and  that  the  romance  of  the  style,  as  well  as  its  partial  inflation, 
being  unaffected,  would  not  injure  the  effect  it  was  intended  to 
produce.  The  subsequent  history  of  this  plate  is  briefly  as  fol- 
lows. Lord  Selkirk  wrote  a  letter  in  reply  to  that  addressed  by 
Jones  to  his  Countess,  intimating  that  he  would  accept  of  its 
return,  if  made  by  order  of  Congress,  but  not  if  redeemed  by 
individual  generosity.  The  letter  was  detained  several  months 
at  London,  in  the  general  post-office,  and  returned  to  the  Earl, 
who  requested  a  gentleman  to  commmunicate  the  cause  of  its 


AUL  JONES.  y«l 

miscarriage  and  its  tenor,  orally,  to  Doctor  Franklin.  The 
Doctor  immediately  informed  Jones,  of  the  substance  of  this 
communication.  It  was  not  until  the  beginning  of  1780,  that 
the  latter  was  enabled  to  get  the  property  he  was  determined 
to  restore,  into  his  possession.  It  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of 
the  prize  agents,  from  whom  it  was  obtained  with  considerable 
difficulty  ;*  and  not  till  after  several  valuations,  and  until  it  cost 
him  who  redeemed  it,  more,  as  he  intimates,  than  it  was  intrinsi- 
cally worth  ;  though  he  carefully  avoids  mentioning  that  circum- 
stance in  his  second  letter  to  the  Countess. 

When  he  had  succeeded  in  effecting  this  object,  he  wrote 
again  to  the  Countess  of  Selkirk  ;  but  his  voyage  to  America, 
and  other  circumstances,  retarded  its  delivery  until  1784.  It 
was  eventually  returned  in  the  same  condition  in  which  it  had 
been  removed,  and  a  letter  from  Lord  Selkirk  acknowledged  in 
terms  satisfactory,  though  formal,  the  unwearied  pains  which 
Captain  Jones  had  taken  to  procure  its  restoration.  The  cor- 
respondence on  this  subject  will  be  found  in  the  note.t 

*  A  few  weeks  after  his  arrival  at  Brest,  he  wrote  to  M.  Schweig- 
hauser,  commercial  agent  for  the  commissioners  at  Nantes,  and  to  the 
Intendant  of  Marine  at  Brest,  desiring  that  the  plate,  with  some  bag- 
gage and  other  articles  specified  should  be  reserved,  and  not  deposited 
in  the  public  stores.  The  request  was  not  complied  with.  On  the 
10th  of  February  1779,  the  commissioners  directed  that  it  should  be 
given  up.  It  would  appear  by  a  note  from  Jones  sent  a  few  days  after 
to  M.  Schweighauser,  that  he  was  to  settle  with  him  for  seventeen 
twentieths  of  the  captors'  moiety  of  its  value.  This  correspondence  would 
swell  this  volume  unnecessarily.  Jones  says,  in  a  note  to  Mr.  Wil- 
liams, that  the  plate  was  very  old,  and  the  fashion  of  it  not  worth  a 
straw,  especially  in  France,  where  none  such  was  used. 

t "  L 'Orient,  March  1st,  1780. 
"  THE  RIGHT  HONOURABLE  THE  COUNTESS  OF  SELKIRK,  ? 
&c.  &c.  ST.  MARY'S  ISLE,  SCOTLAND.  $ 

"  MADAM, 

"  It  is  now  ten  or  eleven  months  since  his  Excellency  Benjamin 
FrankJln,  Esq.  Minister  Plenipotentiary  for  the  United  States  of 


94  PAUL   JONES. 

The  copy  of  the  order  given  to  Lieutenant  Simpson  when  the 
latter  was  put  in  charge  of  the  Drake,  for  disobeying  which  he 
was  put  under  arrest,  as  is  mentioned  in  the  letter  to  the  Pleni- 
potentiaries, is  said  in  the  copy  of  that  letter,  certified  from  the 
office  of  the  secretary  of  Congress,  to  be  missing.  It  is  inti- 
mated, upon  what  authority  does  not  appear,  that  Simpson  had 
been  insubordinate  from  the  beginning ;  that  he  excited  the 
men  to  discontent ;  and  that  frequent  disagreements  had  taken 
place  between  him  and  his  commander.  It  is  also  plausibly 
suggested  that  when  the  Ranger  left  Portsmouth,  he  expected 
to  be  in  command  of  her  on  her  arriving  at  France,  where  a 
large  ship  had  been  promised  to  Jones.  There  is  every  reason  to 
believe  that  Simpson  was  little  inclined  to  submit  to  that  disci- 


America  at  the  Court  of  France,  communicated  to  me  a  message  from 
the  earl,  your  husband,  in  a  letter  to  his  friend,  Mr.  Alexander,  at 
Paris,  in  substance  as  follows  : — That  he,  the  earl  of  Selkirk,  had  writ- 
ten an  answer  to  the  letter  that  I  had  the  honour  to  write  to  your  lady- 
ship in  May,  1778,  from  Brest,  respecting  your  plate  ;  which  answer, 
after  being  detained  for  several  months  at  London,  in  the  general  post- 
office,  had  been  returned  to  Scotland.  He,  therefore,  wished  Mr. 
Alexander  to  inform  the  concerned,  that  if  the  plate  was  to  be  restored 
by  Congress,  or  by  any  public  body,  it  would  be  accepted,  <fcc. ;  but 
if,  through  the  generosity  of  an  individual,  his  delicacy  would  scruple 
to  receive  it,  &c. 

"  The  true  reason  why  I  have  not  written  to  you  since  I  received 
the  above  information,  has  been,  because  the  plate  is  but  now  come 
into  my  possession  from  the  public  agents  ;  and  I  have,  besides,  been, 
for  the  greatest  part  of  the  time,  absent  from  this  kingdom. 

"  I  have  now  the  satisfaction  to  inform  you,  that  Congress  has  relin- 
quished their  real  or  supposed  interest  in  the  plate,  and,  for  my  own 
part,  I  scorn  to  add  to  my  fortune  by  such  an  acquisition.  As  for  the 
part  claimed  by  the  few  men  who  landed  with  me  on  St.  Mary's  Isle, 
it  is  of  little  consequence,  and  they  are  already  satisfied.  Thus  you 
see,  Madam,  that  the  earl's  objection  is  removed. 

"  The  plate  is  lodged  here,  in  the  hands  of  Messrs.  Goiirlade  and 
Moylan,  who  hold  i/,  at  your  disposal,  and  will  forward  it  agreeable  to 


PAUL  JONES.  95 

pline,  for  which  Jones  was  so  stern  and  rigid  an  advocate.  He 
is  probably  referred  to  as  the  wise  officer,  who  objected  to 
"  burning  poor  people's  houses."  On  the  night  when  Jones 
made  his  second  attempt  to  take  the  Drake  while  at  anchor,  he 
relates  in  his  Journal  for  the  king  of  France,-  that  "  the  Lieu- 
tenant having  held  up  to  the  crew,  that  being  Americans,  fight- 
ing for  liberty,  the  voice  of  the  people  should  be  taken,  before 
the  Captain's  orders  were  obeyed,  they  rose  in  mutiny ;  and 
Captain  Jones  was  in  the  utmost  danger  of  being  killed  or 
thrown  overboard."  He  adds  that  this  danger  was  averted, 
by  an  accidental  circumstance, — the  capture  of  the  Drake's 
boat ;  upon  which  trifling  success,  the  "  voice  of  the  people"  was 
no  longer  against  fighting.  The  contemptuous  neglect  of 


your  orders,  by  land  or  by  water,  to  Holland,  Ostend,  or  any  other  port 
you  think  proper. 

"  I  shall  be  happy,  by  my  conduct  through  life,  to  merit  the  good 
opinion  of  the  Earl  and  Countess  of  Selkirk;  for  I  am,  with  great 
esteem  and  profound  respect,  Madam,  your  ladyship's  most  obedient 
and  most  humble  servant. 

*•  PAUL  JONES." 

"  Paris,  September  24tk,  1784. 
"  To  CAPTAIN  PAUL  JONES,  PARIS. 

"  SIR — M.  the  Count  de  Vergennes  has  delivered  to  me  the  letter 
which  you  had  written  to  him,  to  ask  his  permission  to  transport  by  land 
from  L'Orient  to  Calais,  the  plate  of  Lady  Selkirk,  which  you  had  per- 
mitted to  be  taken  by  your  people  during  the  last  war,  and  which  you 
afterward  purchased  to  return  to  her  ladyship. 

"  That  action,  Sir,  is  worthy  of  the  reputation  which  you  acquired 
by  your  conduct,  and  proves  that  true  valour  perfectly  agrees  with 
humanity  and  generosity. 

"  It  gives  me  pleasure  to  concur  in  the  execution  of  this  honourable 
proceeding. 

;<  I  have,  therefore,  given  orders  to  the  Farmers  General  to  permit 
the  transportation  of  the  plate  from  L'Orient  to  Calais,  free  of  duty, 
and  vou  may  write  to  your  correspondent  at  L'Orient  to  deliver  it  to  the 


96  PAUL   JONES. 

Jones'  written  instructions,  and  refusal  to  obey  his  signal, 
certainly  authorized  the  measure  of  Simpson's  arrest,  had  no 
other  cause  of  offence  been  given.  Had  he  obeyed  orders,  and 
not  separated  from  the  Ranger,  while  she  was  in  chase  of 
several  large  ships,  other  prizes  would  probably  have  been 
taken.  It  was  by  accident  that  Jones  fell  in  with  the  Drake, 
and  the  intentions  of  his  wandering  lieutenant  cannot  be  known. 
The  manner  in  which  he  was  suffered  to  act  on  his  return  to 
Brest,  and  finally  allowed  to  return  to  America  without  having 
ever  made  a  formal  apology,  was  a  source,  among  a  thousand 
other  mortifications,  of  just  complaint  on  the  part  of  the 
commander. 

Indeed,  no  more  disagreeable  task  can  well  be  imagined, 


director  of  the  posts,  who  will  take  upon  himself  the  care  of  having  it 
transported  to  Calais,  and  to  fulfil  all  the  necessary  formalities. 
"  I  have  the  honour  to  be,  &c. 

"  DE  CALONNE 

"  Paris,  November  8th,  1784. 

"  THE  RIGHT  HONOURABLE  THE  > 
COUNTESS  OF  SELKIRK.         5 

"  MADAM — Since  the  moment  when  I  found  myself  under  the  neces- 
sity to  permit  my  men  to  demand  and  carry  off  your  family  plate,  it 
has  been  my  constant  intention  to  restore  it  to  you,  and  I  wrote  to  you 
to  that  effect  from  Brest,  the  moment  I  had  arrived  there  from  my 
expedition  in  the  Irish  Sea. 

"  By  the  letter  which  I  had  the  honour  to  write  to  Lord  Selkirk,  the 
12th  of  February  last,  which  will  accompany  this,  I  have  explained  the 
difficulties  that  prevented  the  plate  from  being  restored  until  that  time. 
I  had  expectation,  all  the  last  summer,  that  opportunities  would  have 
offered  to  send  it  by  sea  from  L'Orient  to  London ;  but  being  disap- 
pointed, I  applied  to  government  for  leave  to  transport  it  through  the 
kingdom  by  land,  and  the  Duke  of  Dorset  has  been  so  obliging  as  to 
write  to  the  custom-house  at  Dover,  requesting  them  to  let  it  pass  to 
London,  without  being  opened.  It  is  now  arrived  here,  and  will  be 
forwarded  immediately  to  your  sister  in  London,  under  the  lead  that  has 


PAUL  JONES.  97 

than  to  collect  from  the  correspondence  of  Jones  the  great  and 
petty  vexations  and  series  of  disappointments  to  which  he  was 
subjected  for  many  months  after  returning  from  this  brilliant 
voyage.  We  shall  endeavour  to  avoid  what  is  superfluous  in 
detail ;  presenting  enough  to  show  the  tedious  and  exasperating 
character  of  the  difficulties  with  which  he  met,  and  the  charac- 
teristic manner  in  which  he  remonstrated,  endured,  and  per- 
severed. We  are  much  mistaken  if  it  will  not  appear,  that  in 
most  cases  where  he  was  petulant,  it  was  scarcely  in  human 
nature  to  be  otherwise.  It  was  not  in  that  of  Washington  him- 
self; who,  though  no  money  had  been  supplied  to  them,  often 
threw  census  upon  the  contractors,  when  his  army  was  suffer- 
ing around  him.  It  will  also  appear,  that  when  Jones  made 


been  affixed  to  the  case  that  contains  it,  by  the  Farmers  General  at 
L'Orient,  and  the  seal  of  the  Duke  of  Dorset,  that  has  been  affixed  to 
it  here.  The  charges  to  London  are  paid,  and  I  have  directed  it  to  be 
delivered  at  the  house  of  your  sister. 

"  I  could  have  wished  to  have  ended  this  delicate  business  by  deliv- 
ering the  plate  to  you  at  St.  Mary's  Isle,  in  Scotland  ;  but  I  conform 
to  the  arrangement  made  between  Lord  Selkirk  and  Mr.  Alexander, 
because  I  have  no  person  in  London  whom  I  can  charge  with  the  trans- 
portation of  the  plate  from  thence.  Enclosed  is  the  inventory  that  I 
have  just  received  from  Mr.  Nesbitt,  from  L'Orient,  which  I  presume 
you  will  find  to  correspond  with  the  one  he  sent  last  year  to  Lord  Dare, 
and  with  the  articles  which  you  put  into  the  hands  of  my  men. 

"  I  am,  Madam,  with  sentiments  of  the  highest  respect, 
"  Your  Ladyship's  most  obedient 

"  And  most  humble  servant, 

"  PAUL  JONES." 

"Paris,  February  12th,  1784. 
"  MY  LORD, 

"  I  have  just  received  a  letter  from  Mr.  Nesbitt,  dated  at  L'Orient 
the  4th  instant,  mentioning  a  letter  to  him  from  your  son,  Lord  Dare, 
on  the  subject  of  the  plate  that  was  taken  from  your  house  by  some  of 

12 


98  PAUL   JONES. 

unadvised  charges,  he  was  ready  to  retract  them ;  that  he  was 
willing  to  sacrifice  his  own  interest  altogether  ;  and  to  yield 
that  of  which  he  was  most  tenacious,  rank  and  authority,  rather 
than  not  be  employed  in  rendering  service  to  the  cause  in  which 
he  was  engaged. 

Not  only  his  services,  but  the  political»crisis  at  which  they 
were  rendered,  entitled  him  to  expect  every  encouragement  and 
assistance,  which  either  the  American  commissioners  or  the 
the  court  of  France  could  render  him.  The  former  had  been 
in  fact  acknowledged  as  Plenipotentiaries  more  than  a  month 
previous.  Though  no  declaration  of  war  between  France  and 
England  had  been  solemnly  published,  war  was  inevitable, 
The  French  Ambassador  had  been  ordered  to  leave  London, 


my  people  when  I  commanded  the  Ranger,  and  has  been  for  a  long 
time  past  in  Mr.  Nesbitt's  care.  A  short  time  before  I  left  France  to 
return  to  America,  Mr.  W.  Alexander  wrote  me  from  Paris  to  L'Orient, 
that  he  had,  at  my  request,  seen  and  conversed  with  your  Lordship  in 
England  respecting  the  plate.  He  said  you  had  agreed  that  I  should 
restore  it,  and  that  it  might  be  forwarded  to  the  care  of  your  sister-in- 
law,  the  Countess  of  Morton,  in  London.  In  consequence,  I  now  send 
orders  to  Mr.  Nesbitt  to  forward  the  plate  immediately  to  her  care. 
When  I  received  Mr.  Alexander's  letter,  there  was  no  cartel  or  other 
vessel  at  L'Orient,  that  I  could  trust  with  a  charge  of  so  delicate  a  na- 
ture as  your  plate,  and  I  had  great  reason  to  expect  I  should  return  to 
France  within  six  months  after  I  embarked  for  America ;  but  circum- 
stances in  America  prevented  my  returning  to  Europe  during  the  war, 
though  I  had  constant  expectation  of  it.  The  long  delay  that  has  hap- 
pened to  the  restoration  of  your  plate  has  given  me  much  concern,  and 
I  now  feel  a  proportionate  pleasure  in  fulfilling  what  was  my  first  in- 
tention. My  motive  for  lauding  at  your  estate  in  Scotland  was  to  take 
you  as  a  hostage  for  the  lives  and  liberty  of  a  number  of  the  citizens 
of  America,  who  had  been  taken  in  war  on  the  ocean,  and  committed 
to  British  prisons,  under  an  act  of  parliament,  as  traitors,  pirates,  and 
felons.  You  observed  to  Mr.  Alexander,  that '  my  idea  was  a  mista- 
ken one,  because  you  were  not  (as  I  had  supposed)  in  favour  with  the 


PAUL   JONES.  99 

and  several  naval  rencontres  had  in  fact  taken  place ;  .forerun- 
ners of  the  celebrated  one  between  the  Arethusa  and  La  Belle 
Poule.  The  squadron  of  D'Estaing  was  ready  for  sea.  The 
news  of  the  result  of  Jones'  expedition  was  at  such  a  moment 
gratifying  and  inspiring  to  the  French  court.  He  had  praises 
and  promises  in  profusion.  But  he  found  himself  immediately 
under  the  pressure  of  painful  embarrassments,  which  these  could 
not  remove.  In  the  conclusion  of  his  letter  to  the  commis- 
sioners, on  the  27th  of  May,  he  says  : 

"  Could  I  suppose  that  my  letters  of  the  9th  and  16th  current, 
(the  first  advising  you  of  my  arrival,  and  giving  reference  to  the 
events  of  my  expedition  ;  the  last  advising  you  of  my  draft  in 
favour  of  Monsieur  Bersolle,  for  24,000  livres,  and  assigning 


British  ministry,  who  knew  that  you  favoured  the  cause  of  liberty.1* 
On  that  account,  I  am  glad  that  you  were  absent  from  your  estate  when 
I  landed  there,  as  I  bore  no  personal  enmity,  but  the  contrary,  towards 
you.  I  afterwards  had  the  happiness  to  redeem  my  fellow-citizens 
from  Britain,  by  means  far  more  glorious  than  through  the  medium  of 
any  single  hostage. 

"  As  I  have  endeavoured  to  serve  the  cause  of  liberty,  through  every 
stage  of  the  American  revolution,  and  sacrificed  to  it  my  private  ease, 
a  part  of  my  fortune,  and  some  of  my  blood,  I  could  have  no  selfish 
motive  in  permitting  my  people  to  demand  and  carry  off  your  plate. 
My  sole  inducement  was  to  turn  their  attention  and  stop  their  rage 
from  breaking  out,  and  retaliating  on  your  house  and  effects  the  too 
wanton  burnings  and  desolation  that  had  been  committed  against  their 
relations  and  fellow-citizens  in  America  by  the  British ;  of  which,  I 
assure  you,  you  would  have  felt  the  severe  consequences  had  I  not  fallen 
on  an  expedient  to  prevent  it,  and  hurried  my  people  away  before  they 
had  time  for  further  reflection.  As  you  were  so  obliging  as  to  say  to 
Mr.  Alexander,  that  '  my  people  behaved  with  great  decency  at  your 
house,"1  I  ask  the  favour  of  you  to  announce  thaf.  circumstance  to  the 
public.  I  am,  my  lord,  wishing  you  always  perfect  freedom  and  hap- 
piness, &c.  &c. 

"PAUL  JONES." 


100  PAUL   JONES. 

reasons  for  that  demand,)  had  not  made  due  appearance,  I 
would  hereafter,  as  I  do  now,  enclose  copies.  Three  posts 
have  already  arrived  here  from  Paris,  since  Compte  d'Orvilliers 
showed  me  the  answer  which  he  received  from  the  minister,  to 
the  letter  which  enclosed  mine  to  you.  Yet  you  remain  silent. 
M.  Bersolle  has  this  moment  informed  me  of  the  fate  of  my 
bills ;  the  more  extraordinary,  as  I  have  not  yet  made  use  of 
your  letter  of  credit  of  the  10th  of  January  last,  whereby  I  then 
seemed  entitled  to  call  for  half  the  amount  of  my  last  draft,  and 
I  did  not  expect  to  be  thought  extravagant,  when,  on  the  16th  cur- 
rent I  doubled  that  demand.  Could  this  indignity  be  kept  secret 
I  should  disregard  it ;  and,  though  it  is  already  public  in  Brest, 
and  in  the  fleet,  as  it  affects  only  my  private  credit  I  will  not 


"  London,  August  4Jh,  1789. 
"  MONSIEUR  LE  CHEVALIER  PAUL  JONES,  A  PARIS. 

"  SIR, — I  received  the  letter  you  wrote  to  me  at  the  time  you  sent  off 
my  plate,  in  order  for  restoring  it.  Had  I  known  where  to  direct  a 
letter  to  you,  at  the  time  it  arrived  in  Scotland,  I  would  then  have 
wrote  to  you ;  but  not  knowing  it,  nor  finding  that  any  of  my  ac- 
quaintance at  Edinburgh  knew  it,  I  was  obliged  to  delay  writing  till  I 
came  here  ;  when,  by  means  of  a  gentleman  connected  with  America, 
I  was  told  M.  le  Grand  was  your  banker  at  Paris,  and  would  take  pro 
per  care  of  a  letter  for  you ;  therefore,  I  enclose  this  to  him. 

"  Notwithstanding  all  the  precautions  you  took  for  the  easy  and  unin- 
terrupted conveyance  of  the  plate,  yet  it  met  with  considerable  delays : 
first  at  Calais,  next  at  Dover,  then  at  London ;  however,  it  at  last  ar- 
rived at  Dumfries,  and  I  dare  say  quite  safe,  though  as  yet  I  have  not 
seen  it,  being  then  at  Edinburgh. 

"  I  intended  to  have  put  an  article  in  the  newspapers  about  your 
having  returned  it ;  but  before  I  was  informed  of  its  being  arrived, 
some  of  your  friends,  I  suppose,  bad  put  it  in  the  Dumfries  newspaper, 
whence  it  was  immediately  copied  into  the  Edinburgh  papers,  and  thence 
into  the  London  ones.  Since  that  time,  I  have  mentioned  it  to  many 
people  of  fashion  ;  and,  on  all  occasions,  Sir,  both  now  and  formerly, 
I  have  done  you  the  justice  to  tell,  that  you  made  an  offer  of  returning 
the  plate  very  soon  after  your  return  to  Brest ;  and,  although  you  your- 


PAUL   JONES.  101 

complain.  I  cannot,  however,  be  silent,  when  I  find  the  public 
credit  involved  in  the  same  disgrace.  I  conceive  this  might 
have  been  prevented.  To  make  me  completely  wretched, 
Monsieur  Bersolle  has  told  me  that  he  now  stops  his  hand,  not 
only  of  the  necessary  articles  to  refit  the  ship,  but  also  of  the  daily 
provisions.  I  know  not  where  to  find  to-morrow's  dinner  for  the 
great  number  of  mouths  that  depend  on  me  for  food.  Are  then 
the  continental  ships  of  war  to  depend  on  the  sale  of  their  prizes 
for  a  daily  dinner  for  their  men  ?  '  Publish  it  not  in  Gath  !' 

"  My  officers,  as  well  as  men,  want  clothes,  and  the  prizes 
are  precluded  from  being  sold  before  father  orders  arrive  from 
the  minister.  I  will  ask  you,  gentlemen,  if  I  have  deserved  all 
this  ?  Whoever  calls  himself  an  American  ought  to  be  protected 


self  was  not  at  my  house,  but  remained  at  the  shore  with  your  boat, 
that  yet  you  had  your  officers  and  men  in  such  extraordinary  good  dis- 
cipline, that  your  having  given  them  the  strictest  orders  to  behave  well, 
to  do  no  injury  of  any  kind,  to  make  no  search,  but  only  to  bring  off 
what  plate  was  given  them  ;  that  in  reality  they  did  exactly  as  order- 
ed, and  that  not  one  man  offered  to  stir  from  his  post  on  the  outside 
of  the  house,  nor  entered  the  doors,  nor  said  an  uncivil  word  ;  that  the 
two  officers  staid  not  a  quarter  of  an  hour  in  the  parlour  and  butler's 
pantry,  while  the  butler  got  the  plate  together,  behaved  politely,  and 
asked  for  nothing  but  the  plate,  and  instantly  marched  their  men  off 
in  regular  order,  and  that  both  officers  and  men  behaved  in  all  respects 
so  well,  that  it  would  have  done  cre.dit  to  the  best  disciplined  troops 
whatever. 

"  Some  of  the  English  newspapers,  at  that  time,  having  put  in  con- 
fused accounts  of  your  expedition  to  Whitehaven  and  Scotland,  I  or- 
dered a  proper  one  of  what  happened  in  Scotland  to  be  put  in  the  Lon- 
don newspapers,  by  a  gentleman  who  was  then  at  my  house,  by  which 
the  good  conduct  and  civil  behaviour  of  your  officers  and  men  was  done 
justice  to,  and  attributed  to  your  order,  and  the  good  discipline  you 
maintained  over  your  people. 

"  I  am,  Sir,  your  most  humble  servant, 

"  SELKIRK." 


102  PAUL   JONES. 

here.  I  am  unwilling  to  think  that  you  have  intentionally 
involved  me  in  this  sad  dilemma,  at  a  time  when  I  ought  to 
expect  some  enjoyment.  Therefore  I  have,  as  formerly,  the 
honour  to  be,  with  due  esteem  and  respect,  gentlemen,  yours,  <fec." 
It  is  to  observed  that  before  Jones  left  America,  as  he 
mentions  in  a  subsequent  letter,  he  was  more  than  £1500  in 
advance  for  the  public  service,*  exclusive  of  his  own  investment 
in  fitting  out  the  Ranger,  and  had  never  received  any  compen- 
sation. He  was,  however,  left,  such  was  the  inability  of  the  com- 
missioners to  afford  him  relief,  for  more  than  a  month,  with 
"  two  hundred  prisoners  of  war,  a  number  of  sick  and  wounded, 
and  a  ship,  after  a  severe  engagement,  in  want  of  stores  and 
provisions,"  to  depend  upon  his  own  resourcess.  "  Yet,"  he 
says  in  his  journal  for  the  king,  ' '  during  that  time,  by  his  per- 
sonal credit  with  Count  D'Orvilliers,  the  Duke  de  Chartres,  and 
the  Intendant  of  Brest,  he  fed  his  people  and  prisoners,  cured 
his  wounded,  and  refitted  both  the  Ranger  and  Drake  for  sea." 
During  the  same  period  he  had  also  to  contend  with  the  formal 
delays  or  personal  cupidity  of  the  prize  agents,  and  to  suppress 
the  discontents  among  the  crew,  who  were  naturally  impatient 
under  privation  and  misery  when  they  had  looked  for  their 
wages  and  prize  money.  These  discontents  were  further  aggra- 
vated by  Lieutenant  Simpson,  who,t  "  while  under  arrest  on 
board  the  Drake,  had  constant  intercourse  with  the  crew,  who 
thereby  became  so  insolent  as  to  refuse  duty,  and  go  all  hands 
below,  repeatedly,  before  the  Captain's  face.  It  was  impossible 
to  trifle  at  that  time,  as  Count  D'Orvilliers  had  assured  Cap- 
tain Jones,  that  unless  he  could  get  the  Drake  ready  to  trans- 
port the  prisoners  to  America  before  orders  arrived  from  court, 
they  would  in  all  probability  be  given  up  without  an  exchange, 
to  avoid  immediate  war  with  England.^  It  therefore,  became 


*  See  Appendix  No.  VI.  t  Journal  for  the  King  of  France. 

t  A  letter  on  this  subject  was  addressed  to  M.  de  Sartine,  on  the  14th  May,  by  the 
commissioners,  immediately  on  thereceiptof  the  news  that  Captain  Jones  had  brought 
in  200  prisoners.  They  inquired  the  opinion  of  the  minister  as  to  what  disposition 


PAUL   JONES.  103 

i 

impossible  to  suffer  the  lieutenant  to  remain  any  longer  among 
them.  Captain  Jones  had  him  removed  to  the  ship  called  the 
Admiral,  where  the  French  confine  even  the  first  officers  in  the 
service.  He  had  there  a  good  chamber  to  himself,  and  liberty 
to  walk  the  deck.  The  lieutenant  endeavoured  to  desert  out 
of  the  Admiral,  and  behaved  so  extravagant,  that  Count  D'Or- 
villiers,  without  the  knowledge  of  Captain  Jones,  ordered  him 
to  the  prison  of  the  port,  where  he  also  had  a  good  chamber  j 
and  Captain  Jones  paid  his  expenses  out  of  his  own  pocket." 
What  rendered  the  dishonour  of  his  draft  peculiarly  vexatious, 
independent  of  the  distress  to  which  it  exposed  him,  and  the  fact 
that  in  January  preceding  he  had  been  furnished  with  a  bill  of 
credit  on  Jonathan  Williams  for  five  hundred  louis  d'ors,  signed 
by  the  three  commissioners,  was  the  circumstance  that  he  had, 
under  the  sanction  of  the  Marine  Committee,  before  leaving 
Portsmouth,  made  himself  accountable  to  his  crew  for  the  regu- 
lar payment  of  their  wages.  Mr.  Arthur  Lee  is  charged  with 
knowing  this  to  be  the  case,  and  with  not  communicating  it, 
when  the  bill  was  presented  for  payment. 

In  the  midst  of  all  these  trials  of  temper,  as  well  as  of  forti- 
tude and  patriotism,  Jones  was  longing  to  be  again  employed  in 
active  service  and  in  acquiring  renown ;  and  was  projecting  high 
schemes  for  annoying  the  enemy.  The  friendly  assistance  of 
the  Compte  D'Orvilliers,  commander-in-chief  at  Brest,  and  his 
chaplain,  Father  John,  who  seems  to  have  rendered  Jones  many 
services,  with  the  countenance  of  the  Due  de  Chartres,  and  his 
reliance  upon  the  good  faith  and  practical  wisdom  of  Franklin, 
contributed  to  alleviate  his  anxieties.  The  situation  of  the 
American  Commissioners,  at  this  time,  (Messrs.  Franklin,  A. 
Lee,  and  Adams,  Mr.  Deane  having  been  recalled)  is  well  known. 
Their  authority  was  limited,  and  the  funds  subject  to  their  con- 
trol were  still  more  so.  On  the  25th  May,  they  wrote  to  Mr. 


would  be  made  of  the  prisoners,  France  being  yet  nominally  a  neutral  power.     The 
letter  will  be  found  in  Mr.  Sparks'  Diplomatic  Correspondence,  Vol.  I.  p.  392. 


104  PAUL   JONES. 

Jonathan  Williams,  at  Nantes,  whom  they  had  appointed  com- 
mercial agent,  as  follows:  "the  necessities  of  our  country  de- 
mand the  utmost  frugality,  which  can  never  be  obtained  with- 
out the  utmost  simplicity  in  the  management  of  her  affairs ;  and 
as  Congress  have  authorized  Mr.  W.  Lee  to  superintend  the 
commercial  affairs  in  general,  and  he  has  appointed  Mr. 
Schweighauser,  and  as  your  authority  is  under  the  commis- 
sioners at  Paris  only,  we  think  it  prudent  and  necessary  to  re- 
voke, &c.  all  the  powers  and  authorities  heretofore  granted  to 
you,  &c.  to  the  end  that  hereafter  the  management  of  the  affairs, 
commercial  and  maritime,  of  America,  may  be  under  one  sole 
direction,  that  of  Mr.  Schweighauser,  within  his  district."  "  We 
shall  this  day  acquaint  Captain  Jones  how  far  it  is  in  our  power 
to  comply  with  his  desires,  and  in  what  manner.* 

Such  was  the  position  in  which  Jones  found  himself,  after 
his  return  to  Brest.  In  citing  such  extracts  from  his  corres- 
pondence, as  explain  the  multifarious  difficulties  and  projects 
of  this  period,  there  seems  to  be  but  one  mode  of  avoiding  confu- 
sion, which  is  to  preserve  chronological  order.  His  first  object 
was  to  make  provision  for  the  seamen.  In  mentioning  to  the 
commissioners  in  his  letter  of  May  16th,  that  he  had  drawn  for 
the  24,000  livres,  he  says  :  "I  mean  to  distribute  it  among  the 
officers  and  crew,  to  whom  I  owe  my  late  success.  It  is  but 
reasonable  that  they  should  be  furnished  with  the  means  of  pro- 
curing little  necessaries  and  comforts  of  life  for  themselves ;  and 
the  interests  of  the  service,  as  well  as  the  claims  of  humanity 
and  justice,  plead  in  behalf  of  their  wives  and  helpless  families, 
who  are  now  unprovided  in  America,  and  will  naturally  expect 
a  supply  of  clothing,  &c.  by  the  Drake."  It  is  creditable  to  his 
humanity,  that  the  next  point  which  he  pressed  most  earnestly 
upon  the  commissioners,  was  the  propriety  of  treating  the  pri- 
soners with  kindness  and  attention.  He  was  altogether  averse 
to  releasing  them,  particularly  the  seamen,  without  an  exchange. 


*  Diplomatic  Correspondence,  I.  397. 


PAUL   JONES.  105 

In  forwarding,  afterwards,  their  memorial  he  /says :  "  The  fellow 
who  holds  the  rod  over  their  wretched  heads,  has  menaced  them, 
'  if  they  dare  to  complain,'  and  would  have  intercepted  their  me- 
morial, had  I  not  prevented  it.  This  Riou  is  the  scoundrel  who,  by 
his  falsehood,  promoted  discord  in  the  Ranger,  and  got  the  delu- 
ded people  to  appoint  him  their  particular  agent.  Before  that  time 
he  never  could  call  twenty  louis  his  own,  and  he  is  now  too  rich 
for  his  former  profession  of  King's  interpreter.  He  does  not 
deny  that  he  is  a  scoundrel,  for  so  I  have  called  him  more  than 
once  before  witnesses,  and  so  every  person  of  sense  thinks  him 
at  Brest.  If  the  exchange  of  prisoners  does  not  take  place  im- 
mediately, I  conceive  it  would  be  the  most  eligible  method  to 
have  the  people  on  board  the  Patience  landed.  They  are  con- 
vinced, that  if  you  should  think  fit  to  return  them  an  answer,  it 
will  never  come  to  their  hands  through  the  means  of  any  per- 
son who  calls  himself  an  agent  at  Brest,  and  they  having  full 
confidence  in  the  honour  and  humanity  of  Father  John,  profes- 
sor of  English,  and  chaplain  to  Compte  D'Orvilliers  at  Brest, 
have  desired  me  to  inform  you,  that  through  that  gentleman  they 
beg  you  to  favour  them  with  an  answer.  In  granting  their  re- 
quest you  will  confer  a  very  singular  obligation  on  me." 

On  the  27th  May,  Franklin  wrote  to  Jones  as  follows :  "  Dear 
Sir,  I  received  your's  of  the  18th,  inclosing  one  for  the  Coun- 
tess of  Selkirk,  which  I  forward  this  day,  via  Holland.  It  is  a 
gallant  letter,  and  must  give  her  ladyship  a  high  and  just  opinion 
of  your  gallantry  and  nobleness  of  mind.  The  dirty  insinuation 
you  mention,  is  of  a  piece  with  many  others  from  the  same 
quarter,  the  natural  produce  of  base  minds;  who,  feeling  no 
other  motive  in  their  own  breasts,  but  sordid  self  interest, 
imagine  no  other  motive  can  exist  in  others,  and  therefore,  it  is 
to  that  alone,  they  ascribe  the  most  praiseworthy  actions.* 

"  The  Jersey  privateers  do  us  a  great  deal  of  mischief  by 


*  He  refers  to  the  misrepresentations  of  the  English  papers,  mentioned  in  a  letter 
of  Jones  already  introduced. 

13 


106  PAUL   JONES. 

intercepting  our  supplies.  It  has  been  mentioned  to  me,  that 
your  small  vessel,  commanded  by  so  brave  an  officer,  might 
render  great  service,  by  following  them  where  greater  ships  dare 
not  venture  their  bottoms ;  or,  being  accompanied  and  supported 
by  some  frigates  from  Brest,  at  a  proper  distance,  might  draw 
them  out  and  then  take  them.  I  wish  you  to  consider  of  this,  as 
it  comes  from  high  authority,  and  that  you  would  immediately 
think  of  it,  and  let  me  know  when  your  ship  will  be  ready. 
I  have  written  to  England  about  the  exchange  of  your  pri- 
soners. I  congratulate  you  most  cordially  on  your  late  suc- 
cess, and  wish  for  a  continuance  and  increase  of  the  honour  you 
have  acquired." 

While  the  matter  and  manner  of  the  beginning  of  this  letter 
were  well  calculated  to  give  Jones  pleasure,  his  own  phraseology 
being  nearly  echoed,  it  afforded  no  prospect  of  immediate  relief. 
No  mention  is  made  of  the  draft ;  and  the  service  proposed  was 
not  of  such  a  character  as  was  particularly  calculated  to  gratify 
the  appetite  of  any  ambitious  commander,  just  flushed  with  suc- 
cess ;  much  less  that  of  Jones,  who  would  thus  have  been  made 
subservient  to  the  objects  of  others,  who  would  reap  the  glory, 
while  he  was  playing  the  humbler  part  of  hunting  out  game  for 
them.  In  his  reply,  however,  he  declares  his  readiness  to  com- 
ply, while  he  intimates  very  plainly  his  longing  for  more  digni- 
fied employment.  This  is  not  unskilfully  introduced.  The  let- 
ter, dated  June  1st,  is  as  follows. 

"  His  EXCELLENCY  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN. 

"Honoured  and  dear  Sir — Accept  my  grateful  thanks  for 
your  much  esteemed  favour  of  27th  ult.  Such  a  mark  of  your 
good  opinion  and  approbation,  really  affords  me  the  most  heart- 
felt satisfaction.  It  shall  always  be  my  ambition  to  do  my  duty, 
as  far  as  my  judgment  and  small  abilities  enable  me  ; — but  you 
will  see  by  the  within  papers,  that  my  roses  are  not  without 
thorns ;  and,  perhaps,  it  will  seem  romance  that  I  have  suc- 
ceeded, which  I  am  sure  I  should  not  have  done,  had  I  not  been 
my  own  counsellor. 


PAUL   JONES.  107 

"  Nothing  would  give  me  more  pleasure  than  to  render  essen- 
tial service?  to  America,  in  any  measure  which  you  may  find 
expedient.  Should  I  be  able  to  lead  my  present  crew,  it  can 
be  done  only  by  the  seldom  failing  bait  for  sordid  minds,  great 
views  of  interest. 

"  If  in  bringing  about  the  plan  you  propose,  I  may  take  the 
liberty  to  assure  them  of  the  protection  of  the  French  flag,  in  the 
channel,  against  enemies  of  superior  force,  with  the  free  liberty 
to  attack,  and  take  under  that  sanction,  such  of  the  enemy's 
ships  of  war,  or  merchantmen,  as  may  be  met  with,  of  equal  or 
inferior  force,  perhaps  I  may  succeed  and  gain  them  over  by  thai 
means,  nor  will  it  be  necessary  to  tell  them  our  real  object. 

"  If  I  am  not  at  liberty  to  give  them  such  assurances,  and  their 
/tome-sickness  should  continue,  I  could  wish  that  such  officers  as 
may  apoear  dangerously  ill,  might  have  liberty  to  lay  down 
their  commissions  and  warrants,  and  that  others  may  be  given 
to  men  of  stronger  nerves,  who  would  be  too  proud  to  think 
themselves  servants  bv  the  year.  I  believe  many  such  may  be 
found  among  American  subjects  in  France. 

"  If  it  should  be  consistent  to  order  the  Boston  frigate  here 
from  Bourdeaux,  perhaps  such  exchanges  might  be  made,  as 
would  be  for  the  interest  and  harmony  of  the  service ;  and  we 
might  perhaps  be  able  to  assemble  a  sufficient  number  of  offi- 
cers to  form  a  court. 

"  The  Due  de  Chartres  has  shown  me  sundry  attentions,  and 
expressed  his  inclination  to  facilitate  my  obtaining  the  ship  built 
at  Amsterdam.  I  believe  I  could  easily  obtain  letters  to  the 
same  effect,  from  the  principal  people  here,  but  shall  take  no 
step  without  your  approbation.  If  the  prisoners  should  be  ex- 
changed in  Europe,  I  believe  it  would  be  possible  to  man  that 
ship  with  Americans.  I  could  have  manned  two  such  with 
French  volunteers  since  I  arrived. 

"  The  Ranger  is  crank,  sails  slow,  and  is  of  a  trifling  force. 
Most  of  the  enemy's  cruisers  are  more  than  a  match,  yet  I  mean 
not  to  complain.  I  demand  nothing  ;  and  although  I  know  that 


108  PAUL   JONES. 

it  was  the  intention  of  Congress  to  give  me  that  ship,  I  am  raw 
ready  to  go  wherever  the  service  calls  me. 

"  If  two  or  three  fast  sailing  ships  could  be  collected,  there  is 
a  great  choice  of  private  enterprises,  some  of  which  might  suc- 
ceed, and  add  more  to  the  interest  and  honour  of  America,  than 
cruising  with  twice  the  force.  It  appears  to  me  to  be  the  pro- 
vince of  our  infant  navy  to  surprise,  and  spread  alarms  with  fast 
sailing  ships.  When  we  grow  stronger,  we  can  meet  their 
fleets,  and  dispute  with  them  the  sovereignty  of  the  ocean. 
These  are  my  private  sentiments,  and  are  therefore  submitted 
with  the  utmost  diffidence  to  your  superior  understanding. 

"  Both  the  Ranger  and  the  Drake  were  so  much  disabled, 
that  they  needed  to  be  entirely  new  rigged.  We,  however,  made 
shift  from  the  wreck  of  both  ships,  to  rig  the  Drake,  which  is 
now  completed.  The  Ranger's  late  rigging  was  twice  laid  and 
much  too  thick  and  heavy.  The  refitting  her  shall  be  continued 
with  unremitting  application."  He  thus  complains  of  the  deten- 
tion'of the  captors'  part  of  one  of  the  Ranger's  prizes  by  Mr.  Delap, 
a  nominal  sub-prize  agent,  and  of  the  sacrifice  of  another  prize  at 
Nantes.  Half  the  proceeds  of  the  latter  was  all  the  prize  money 
yet  received.  In  a  postscript  he  says :  "The  written  papers  I 
send  you  in  confidence ;  leaving  it  to  you  to  show  them  or  not 
to  such  persons  as  you  may  think  proper." 

These  inclosures  contained  plans  for  various  expeditions. 
"  Three  very  fast  sailing  frigates,  with  one  or  two  tenders,  might 
enter  the  Irish  channel  and  burn  at  Whitehaven  from  two  to 
three  hundred  ships,  besides  the  town,  which  contains  50,000 
inhabitants ;  this  would  render  it  difficult,  if  not  impossible  to 
supply  Ireland  with  coal  the  ensuing  winter. 

"  The  same  force  would  be  sufficient  to  take  the  bank  of  Ayr 
in  Scotland,  and  to  destroy  the  town :  or  perhaps,  the  whole 
shipping  in  the  Clyde,  with  the  towns  and  stores  of  Greenock 
and  Port  Glasgow,  provided  no  alarm  was  first  given  at  other 
places.  The  fishery  at  Cambletown  is  an  object  worthy  at- 
tftiion,  and  in  some  of  the  ports  of  Ireland,  ships  may  perhaps 
be  I  bund  worth  from  150,000  to  200,000  livres  each." 


PAUL   JONES.  109 

As  the  preparations  for  these  enterprises  would  require  time, 
he  suggested  that  immediately,  with  an  inferior  force,  the  east 
and  north  coasts  of  England  and  Scotland  might  be  alarmed, 
several  towns  burned  or  laid  under  contribution,  and  the  coal 
shipping  of  Newcastle  destroyed.  If  these  plans  should  be 
thought  inexpedient,  the  enemy's  West  India  or  Baltic  fleets,  or 
Hudson  Bay  ships  might  be  intercepted,  or  the  Greenland  fish- 
ery destroyed;  all  of  which,  he  says,  "were  capital  objects." 

If  none  of  these  projects  were  very  magnificent,  Jones  would 
have  had  the  sole  conduct  of  them  ;  and  he  felt  himself  able  to 
effect  them  with  a  comparatively  small  force  ;  on  which  account 
he  must  have  preferred  the  least  brilliant,  to  acting  in  the  sub- 
ordinate capacity  proposed  to  him. 

The  letter  addressed  by  the  commissioners  to  Jones,  on  the 
25th  of  May,  referred  to  in  their  letter  to  Mr.  Jonathan  Williams, 
of  the  same  date,  is  not  among  any  of  the  published  documents 
or  manuscripts  before  the  compiler.  In  it,  according  to  their 
letter  to  Mr.  Williams,  they  "  acquainted  Captain  Jones  how 
far  it  was  in  their  power  to  comply  with  his  desires,  and  in  what 
manner."  He  thus  wrote  in  reply,  on  the  3d  June. 

"  GENTLEMEN, 

"  Your  letter  of  the  25th  ult.  I  received  by  yesterday's  post. 
I  frankly  ask  your  pardon  for  the  undue  liberty  I  took  the 
16th  ult.  when  I  ventured  to  sign  a  draft  upon  you  for  the 
purpose  of  supplying  the  people  under  my  command  with 
necessary  clothing,  &.c.  ;  and  I  promise  you  never  to  be  guilty 
of  the  like  offence  again.  I  hope  you  do  not,  however,  mean  to 
impute  to  me  a  desire  to  receive  '  presents  of  the  public  money ;' 
or  even  to  touch  a  dollar  of  it,  for  any  private  purpose  of  my 
own.  On  the  contrary,  I  need  not  now  assert,  that  I  stepped 
forth  at  the  beginning,  from  nobler  motives.  My  accounts, 
before  I  left  America,  testify  that  I  am  more  than  fifteen 
hundred  pounds  in  advance  for  the  public  service,  exclusive  of 
any  concern  with  the  Ranger ;  and  as  for  wages,  I  never  received 
any.  Had  I  not  previously  determined  to  keep  the  prisoners 


110  PAUL   JONES. 

here,  they  would  have  been  sent  away  in  .he  Drake,  long  before 
now.  My  embarrassed  situation  will,  in  the  eyes  of  candour, 
apologize  for  my  not  sending  you  a  more  early  information  of 
the  particulars  of  my  cruise,  and  of  the  prizes  which  I  have 
made.  On  my  passage  from  America  I  took  two  brigantines, 
both  from  Malaga  for  England.  The  one  arrived  safe  at 
Nantes ;  and  being  sold  by  Messrs.  Morris  and  Williams,  the 
captors'  part  was  paid  to  them.  The  other  arrived  at  Bour- 
deaux,  and  was,  I  understand,  sold  by  Mr.  J.  H.  Delap,  who, 
though  he  had  my  orders  to  remit  the  captors'  part  immediately, 
into  the  hands  of  Mr.  Williams  of  Nantes,  yet  still  retains  it  in 
his  own  hands.  On  my  late  expedition,  three  prizes  were  sunk. 
The  ship  Lord  Chatham  was  sent  here  (to  Brest)  to  remain 
under  the  care  of  the  Intendant.  She  now  remains  in  the  port, 
locked  and  nailed  up  under  a  guard.  The  ship  of  war  Drake, 
with  her  stores  on  board,  and  the  brigantine  Patience  in  ballast, 
are  with  the  Ranger  at  anchor  in  the  Road.  M.  de  Sartine 
can  inform  you  that  the  sales  of  the  prizes  are  precluded,  until 
he  sends  further  orders  here.  Had  it  been  otherwise,  1  cannot 
see  how  you  could  suppose  that  I  had  created  agents  to  dispose 
of  the  public  property.  And  yet  if  I  had  done  this,  perhaps  my 
public  wants  would  justify  me. 

"  The  rules  whereby  Congress  have  been  pleased  to  command 
me  to  regulate  my  conduct  in  the  navy,  authorize  me  to  issue 
my  warrant  to  the  agent,  &c.  and  I  humbly  conceive  that  it  is 
his  province  to  furnish  me  with  an  estimate  of  the  amount  of 
expenses.  If  you  wish  for  an  estimate  from  me,  unacquainted 
as  I  am  with  prizes,  besides  the  delay,  it  may  be  very  far  from 
exact. 

"  When  you  determined  to  change  the  continental  agent,  I 
could  wish  you  had  sent  that  information  in  a  letter  to  meet 
me  here  on  my  arrival,  as  I  had  advised  you  of  my  intention 
to  return  to  Brest.  All  disagreeable  altercation  might  then 
have  been  avoided.  My  situation  is  not  now  mended  by  your 
last,  the  gentleman  you  mention  being  at  Nantes,  and  no  person 
appearing  in  his  behalf  at  Brest. 


PAUL   JONES.  Ill 

"  A  space  of  sixteen  months  is  now  elapsed,  since  Congress 
thought  of  me,  and  placed  under  my  command  seven  times  my 
present  force,  leaving  me  at  full  liberty,  how,  and  where  to  apply 
it.  And  if  I  am  not  now  capable  of  supporting  the  internal 
government  of  a  single  sloop  of  war,  I  wish  that  some  person 
more  deserving  had  my  place,  and  I  in  America  to  answer  for 
my  misconduct.  I  have  '  well  considered,'  and  yet  I  shall 
persist  in  justifying  the  steps  I  have  taken,  and  to  which  you 
allude.  *  * 

"  If  you  are  in  possession  of  any  resolution  of  Congress,  which 
will  authorize  me  to  send  Lieutenant  Simpson  to  America,  <kc. 
I  should  be  obliged  to  you  for  a  copy  of  it." 

The  change  of  commercial  agents  seems  to  have  been 
peculiarly  disagreeable  to  Jones,  on  several  accounts.  He  paid 
no  attention  to  two  letters  from  Mr.  Schweighauser,  at  Nantes, 
(who  had  been  appointed  agent  within  a  certain  district  by  Mr. 
W.  Lee,)  until  he  had  been  officially  directed  to  recognise  him 
by  the  commissioners.  He  then  wrote  to  him  as  follows, 
obviously  under  an  irritation  of  feeling. 

"  Brest,  4th  June,  1778. 

"  SIR — Your  letter  of  the  12th  ult.  duly  appeared  ;  but  as  the 
purport  of  it  seemed  rather  to  intimate  your  desire  to  sell  my 
prizes  at  a  distance,  than  to  manifest  your  inclination  to  furnish 
the  daily  supplies  of  provisions  for  my  people  and  prisoners,  and 
the  stores  and  provision  of  every  kind,  necessary  to  refit  the 
continental  ship  Ranger,  after  an  obstinate  engagement,  I 
thought  it  required  no  answer  ;  especially  as  I  had  no  letter 
from  the  commissioners  on  the  subject  ;  and  had  the  commis- 
sioners still  remained  silent,  neither  could  I  have  given  a 
satisfactory  answer  to  your  last  of  31st  ult.  which  has  this 
moment  come  to  my  hand.  That  letter,  Sir,  seems  in  the 
same  strain  with  the  former  j  but  some  part  of  it,  I  freely 
confess,  is  above  my  language  or  comprehension,  when  you 
express  yourself  thus :  '  That  I  may  take  the  necessary 


112  PAUL   JONES. 

measures  to  assure  us  the  propriety  of  these  captures.'*  As  I 
am  not  charged  with  having  infringed  the  laws  of  government, 
I  think  your  postscript  might  have  been  spared. 

"  In  a  word,  if  you  consider  yourself  the  agent  or  instrument 
for  victualling  and  repairing  the  ships  of  war  of  the  American 
navy,  as  I  came  here  in  distress  the  8th  ult.  in  want  of  provisions, 
with  a  number  of  wounded  men  and  prisoners,  you  have  not 
done  your  duty  ;  as  you  have  not,  to  this  hour,  given  or  offered 
me  any  assistance ;  whereby  you  have  occasioned  a  loss  of 
money  and  time  to  the  United  States.  It  was  your  duty  to  have 
appeared  on  the  spot,  and  to  have  ministered  to  our  wants.  If, 
on  the  contrary,  as  I  rather  think,  you  consider  yourself  only 
as  the  instrument  for  selling  the  continental  part  of  prizes,  yet 
in  this  case,  too,  you  have  not  done  your  duty.  It  was  your  duty 
to  have  appeared  at  Brest,  to  have  taken  care  of  the  public 
property,  and  to  have  brought  on  the  sales ;  whereas  some  of 
it  may  now  be  perishing,  through  your  absence  and  neglect.  I 
have  been  thus  explicit,  that  you  may  not  henceforth  misunder- 
stand me  ;  and  that,  so  far  as  we  may  be  connected,  we  may 
henceforth  co-operate  for  the  public  good  of  the  American 
United  States." 

On  the  1st  of  June,  the  same  day  on  which  Jones  had  written 
to  Franklin,  in  reply  to  a  letter  suggesting  enterprises  of  an 
humbler  character,  that  real  friend  of  his,  who  best  understood 
his  genius  and  his  temperament,  communicated  to  him  intelli- 
gence calculated  to  awaken  higher  hopes,  and  to  console  him 
for  all  his  mortifications.  His  pride  was  gratified,  and  he  was 
at  liberty  to  indulge  in  dreams  of  glory.  This  was  all ;  for  he 


*  As  we  cannot  suppose  that  Jones  would  have  condescended  to  a 
vulgar  sneer,  it  is  obvious  that  he  was  too  much  vexed  to  perceive  that 
M.  Schweighauser,  who  thought  in  one  language,  while  writing  in  an- 
other, and  whose  letters  in  English  are  curiously  inaccurate,  meant  to 
use  the  harmless  word  property,  instead  of  that  which  gave  so  much 
offence. 


PAUL  JONES.  113 

was  destined  to  endure  a  new  and  long  series  of  disappointments. 
The  letter  of  Franklin  was  as  follows : 

(PRIVATE.) 

"  DEAR  SIR, 

"  I  have  the  pleasure  of  informing  you,  that  it  is  proposed  to 
give  you  the  command  of  the  great  ship  we  have  built  at  Am- 
sterdam. By  what  you  wrote  to  us  formerly,  I  have  ventured 
to  say  in  your  behalf,  that  this  proposition  would  be  agreeable  to 
you.  You  will  immediately  let  me  know  your  resolution ;  which, 
that  you  may  be  more  clear  in  taking,  I  must  inform  you  of 
some  circumstances.  She  is  at  present  the  property  of  the 
king ;  but  as  there  is  no  war  yet  declared,  you  will  have  the 
commission  and  flag  of  the  States,  and  act  under  their  orders 
and  laws.  The  Prince  de  Nassau  will  make  the  cruise  with 
you.  She  is  to  be  brought  here  under  cover  as  a  French 
merchantman,  to  be  equipped  and  manned  in  France.  We 
hope  to  exchange  your  prisoners  for  as  many  American  sailors  ; 
but  if  that  fails,  you  have  your  present  crew  to  be  made  up  here 
with  other  nations  and  French.  The  other  commissioners  are 
not  acquainted  with  this  proposition  as  yet ;  and  you  see  by  the 
nature  of  it,  that  is  necessary  to  be  kept  a  secret  till  we  have 
got  the  vessel  here,  for  fear  of  difficulties  in  Holland,  and 
interception  ;  you  will  therefore  direct  your  answer  to  me  alone. 
It  being  desired  that  the  affair  should  rest  between  you  and  me, 
perhaps  it  may  be  best  for  you  to  take  a  trip  up  here  to  concert 
matters,  if  in  general  you  approve  the  idea. 

"  I  was  much  pleased  with  reading  your  journal,  which  we 
received  yesterday." 

Jones  wrote  in  reply,  on  the  6th,  as  follows :  "  Your  much 
esteemed  favour  lays  me  under  a  most  singular  obligation.  I 
cannot  but  be  deeply  sensible  of  the  honour  conferred  upon  me 
by  the  proposition ;  and  I  really  think  it  affords  a  very  fair 
prospect  of  success.  In  a  few  days,  the  return  of  a  letter  from 
Mr.  Schweighauser  will,  I  hope,  enable  me  to  leave  affairs  here, 
so  as  to  attend  you  at  Paris.  I  shall  be  happy  in  all  opportu- 

14 


114  PAUL   JONES. 

nities  to  prove,  by  my  conduct,  how  much  I  wisn  to  merit  your 
confidence,  and  that  of  the  Prince." 

On  the  10th  June,  Franklin  again  wrote  to  Jones,  confirming 
his  expectations  of  receiving  the  promised  command. 

Passy,  June  10/A,  1778. 
"  DEAR  SIR, 

"  I  received  your's  of  1st  instant,  with  the  papers  enclosed, 
which  I  have  shown  to  the  other  commissioners,  but  have  not 
yet  had  their  opinion  of  them  ;  only  I  know  that  they  had  before 
(in  consideration  of  the  disposition  and  uneasiness  of  your 
people)  expressed  an  inclination  to  order  your  ship  directly  back 
to  America.  You  will  judge  from  what  follows,  whether  it  will 
not  be  advisableybr  you  to  propose  their  sending  her  back  with 
her  people,  and  under  some  other  command.  In  consequence  of 
the  high  opinion  the  Minister  of  the  Marine  has  of  your  conduct 
and  bravery,  it  is  now  settled  (observe,  that  is  to  be  a  secret 
between  us,  I  being  expressly  enjoined  not  to  communicate  it 
to  any  other  person,)  that  you  are  to  have  the  frigate  from 
Holland,  which  actually  belongs  to  government,  and  will  be 
furnished  with  as  many  good  French  seamen  as  you  shall 
require.  But  you  are  to  act  under  Congress  commission.  As 
you  may  like  to  have  a  number  of  Americans,  and  your  own 
are  home-sick,  it  is  proposed  to  give  you  as  many  as  you  can 
engage  out  of  two  hundred  prisoners,  which  the  ministry  of 
Britain  have  at  length  agreed  to  give  us  in  exchange  for  those 
you  have  in  your  hands.  They  propose  to  make  the  exchange 
at  Calais,  where  they  are  to  bring  the  Americans.  Nothing  is 
wanting  to  this  but  a  list  of  yours,  containing  their  names  and 
rank ;  immediately  on  the  receipt  of  which  an  equal  number 
are  to  be  prepared,  and  sent  in  a  ship  at  that  port,  where 
your's  are  to  meet  them. 

"If  by  this  means  you  can  get  a  good  new  crew,  I  think  it 
would  be  best  that  you  are  quite  free  of  the  old ;  for  a  mixture 
might  introduce  the  infection  of  that  sickness  you  complain  of. 
But  this  may  be  left  to  your  own  discretion.  Perhaps  we  shall 


PAUL   JONES.  115 

join  you  with  the  Providence,  Captain  Whipple,  a  new  conti- 
nental ship  of  30  guns,  which,  in  coming  out  of  the  river  of 
Providence,  gave  the  two  frigates  that  were  posted  to  intercept 
her  each  of  them  so  heavy  a  dose  of  her  18  and  12  pounders, 
that  they  had  not  the  courage,  or  were  not  able,  to  pursue  her. 
It  seems  to  be  desired  that  you  will  step  up  to  Versailles,  (where 
one  will  meet  you,)  in  order  to  such  a  settlement  of  matters  and 
plans  with  those  who  have  the  direction  as  cannot  well  be  done 
by  letter.  I  wish  it  may  be  convenient  to  you  to  do  it  imme- 
diately. 

"  The  project  of  giving  you  the  command  of  this  ship  pleases 
me  the  more,  as  it  is  a  probable  opening  to  the  higher  prefer- 
ment you  so  justly  merit." 

It  will  be  observed  that  this  negotiation  of  Franklin  with  the 
French  ministry,  was  unknown  to  Messrs.  Lee  and  Adams.  It 
seems,  too,  not  to  have  been  communicated  to  them  before  the 
16th,  that  Jones  was  to  have  command  of  the  frigate  at  Amster- 
dam ;  as  we  find  a  letter  from  them  addressed  to  him  on  that 
day,*  signed  by  all  the  commissioners,  directing  him  to  make 
preparations  for  a  voyage  to  America  with  all  despatch,  in  the 
ship  then  under  his  command,  containing  various  instructions, 
formal,  and  in  the  nature  of  suggestions,  and  advising  him  to  keep 
his  destination  secret.  It  could  not  have  been  intended  by  Franklin 
and  Sartine,  that  he  should  return  in  the  Ranger,  as  the  subse- 
quent correspondence  will  show.  Jones  stood  likewise  too  high 
in  importance,  to  be  despatched  home  in  that  vessel.  He  had 
previously  been  in  direct  correspondence  with  M.  De  Sartine. 
On  the  31st  March  previous,  he  had  written  to  him  from  Brest, 
enclosing  a  copy  of  the  letter  from  the  secret  committee  of 
Congress,  with  other  documents  ;  acknowledging  the  attentions 
and  favours  he  had  received  from  Admiral  Compte  D'Orvilliers, 
M.  De  la  Porte,  M.  la  Motte  Picquet,  and  every  other  officer  of 
distinction  in  the  port ;  and  adverting  to  a  project  of  his,  corn- 


Diplomatic  Correspondence,  I.  398. 


116  PAUL   JONES. 

i 

mtmicated  to  the  minister  through  the  admiral,  the  nature  of 
which  he  does  not  specify.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the 
minister  wished  to  secure  the  services  of  Jones,  and  to  retain 
him  in  readiness  to  execute  whatever  enterprise  events  might 
indicate  as  best  suited  to  his  daring  spirit  and  practical  skill. 
His  late  successes  had  made  an  impression  which  had  a  specific 
value  ;  and  the  offer  of  the  Prince  of  Nassau  to  serve  under 
him,  is  a  sufficient  proof  of  the  estimation  in  which  he  was  held 
at  Court.  Under  the  then  existing  circumstances,  it  would 
have  been  a  loss  to  send  him  to  America,  with  a  small  force, 
merely  as  a  bearer  of  despatches,  with  the  precarious  chance  of 
making  a  few  stray  prizes,  or  striking  unimportant  blows.  Yet, 
notwithstanding  that  after  the  withdrawal  of  the  ambassadors, 
the  nations  felt  that  hostilities  must  ensue,  political  considera- 
tions withheld  either  from  being  the  first  to  acknowledge  its 
belligerent  attitude.  The  affair  on  the  17th  June,  between  the 
Belle  Poule  and  the  Arethusa,  and  the  capture  on  the  same  and 
the  following  day,  by  the  English,  of  the  Licorne  and  Pallas 
frigates,  in  which  each  party  charged  the  other  of  being  the 
aggressor,  brought  matters  nearer  to  a  crisis.  The  engagements 
between  the  fleets  under  Keppel  and  D'Orvilliers  followed,  and 
it  soon  became  no  longer  necessary  to  moot  questions  of  national 
law,  as  to  the  disposition  of  prisoners  brought  into  French 
ports  by  American  cruisers.* 


*  On  accidentally  looking  for  a  date  into  the  newspaper  historian  Bissett,  whose  com- 
pilation our  wise  booksellers,  for  lack  of  a  better,  bind  up  with  Hume  and  Smollet, 
I  find  an  amusing  notice  of  Jones  and  his  adventures.  "  The  American  privateers,11 
says  this  plunderer  of  old  gazettes,  "  trusting  to  the  alliance  with  France,  came  this 
year  to  the  coast  of  Europe,  and  committed  various  depredations.  The  most  daring 
commander  of  iliese  ships,  was  the  noted  adventurer  Paul  Jones.  This  person  had.  been 
gardener  to  the  Earl  of  Selkirk,  at  a  seat  near  Kircudbright,  on  the  southwest  coast  of  Scot- 
land. Leaving  his  employment  abruptly,  on  account  of  some  umbrage  which  he  had  con- 
ceived against  the  family,  he  had  betaken  himself  to  sea;  and  by  professional  skill, 
together  with  intrepid  boldness,  arrived  at  the  appointment  which  he  then  held. 
Directing  his  efforts  against  the  coasts  with  which  he  was  best  acquainted,  he  landed 
at  Whitehaven  in  Cumberland,  and  set  fire  to  a  ship  in  the  harbour,  with  the  intention 
of  burning  the  town ;  but  was  driven  away  by  the  inhabitants.  From  thence  he  proceeded 


PAUL   JONES.  117 

Previous  to  leaving  Brest  for  Versailles,  Jones  .says  in  his 
Journal  for  the  king,  that  "  finding  the  lieutenant  appeared 
more  reasonable  than  formerly,  he  took  his  parole  in  writing, 
not  to  serve  again  in  the  navy  before  he  was  acquitted  by  a 
court-martial,  and  set  him  at  liberty.  A  day  or  two  afterwards, 
the  commissioners  thought  fit  to  interfere  respecting  the  lieu- 
tenant of  the  Ranger,  which,  it  is  presumed,  they  had  no 
authority  to  do,  as  it  laid  the  axe  to  the  root  of  subordination." 

He  proceeds  to  say,  that  "  having  the  prisoners  still  under 
his  care,  the  prizes  being  unsold,  and  the  crew  naked,  Captain 
Jones,  having  completely  refitted  the  Ranger,  had  no  immediate 
business  at  Brest ;  and  therefore  went  privately  up  to  Versailles, 
on  the  invitation  of  the  Court."  On  the  16th  June,  he  addressed 
the  following  letter  to  the  commissioners,  from  Passy. 

"  GENTLEMEN, 

"  At  the  time  when  I  took  Lieutenant  Simpson's  parole,  I 
did  not  expect  to  have  been  so  long  absent  from  America ;  but 
as  circumstances  have  now  rendered  the  time  of  my  return  less 
certain,  I  am  willing  to  let  the  dispute  between  us  drop  for  ever, 
by  giving  up  that  parole,  which  will  entitle  him  to  command  the 
Ranger.  I  have  no  malice,  and  if  I  have  done  him  any  injury, 
this  will  be  making  him  all  the  present  satisfaction  in  my  power. 
If  on  the  contrary,  he  has  injured  me,  I  will  trust  to  himself  for 
an  acknowledgment." 

On  the  29th  Jones  wrote  to  the  commanding  officers  of  the 
Ranger,  informing  them  that  he  had  obtained  permission  from 
the  French  ministry,  to  dispose  of  the  prizes  to  the  best  advan- 
tage, without  their  being  subject  to  any  expense  in  the  admiralty 
courts,  and  had  made  other  arrangements  for  the  advantage  of 


over  Solway  Frith,  to  the  seat  of  Lord  Selkirk,  and  pillaged  the  house  of  all  the  p&te, 
jewels,  and  other  valuable  effects,  Sfc."  The  veracious  historian  says  nothing  of  the 
capture  of  the  Drake,  as  a  matter  of  course.  Candour,  however,  must  confess  that 
there  are  fewer  mistatemeiits  in  the  foregoing  paragraph,  than  in  many  others  of  equal 
length,  which  might  be  selected  from  the  same  work. 


118  PAUL   JONES. 

the  captors.  "  It  shall  be  my  care  to  get  the  prisoners  ex- 
changed as  soon  as  possible,  to  realize  our  prizes,  and  to  obtain 
leave  to  return  on  a  cruise  to  America.  All  this  I  believe  I 
shall  very  soon  be  able  to  effect,  and  therefore  you  may  publish 
it  in  the  ship,  for  the  general  happiness  and  satisfaction. 
There  will,  I  am  persuaded,  be  nothing  to  interfere  with  our 
proceeding  to  America,  unless  the  Ranger  should  be  previously 
employed  as  a  cartel,  in  the  approaching  exchange  of  prisoners. 
This  may  or  may  not  happen  ;  and  as  it  will  be  a  work  of  little 
time,  and  of  no  danger,  it  cannot  but  be  agreeable  to  the  feel- 
ings of  humanity.  It  might,  I  think,  be  accomplished,  before 
the  prizes  can  be  realized.  I  only  wait  here  for  the  list  of  the 
prisoners  which  I  wrote  for  some  time  ago,  and  which  I  hope 
will  be  very  exact."  He  then  gives  instructions  as  to  details, 
and  among  others,  requests  that  certain  articles,  including  the 
plate,  should  be  carefully  stored  and  reserved,  until  his  return 
to  Brest. 

On  the  4th  of  July,  he  wrote  to  the  commissioners  as  follows  : 

" GENTLEMEN, 

"  When  Congress  thought  proper  to  order  me  to  France,  it 
was  proposed  that  the  Ranger  should  remain  under  my  direction, 
and  be  commanded  by  a  lieutenant.  And  as  the  French 
ministry  have  now  in  contemplation  plans  which  promise  honour 
to  the  American  flag,  the  Ranger  might  be  very  useful  to  assist 
in  carrying  them  into  execution.  Lieutenant  Simpson  has 
certainly  behaved  amiss  ;  yet  I  can  forgive,  as  well  as  resent ; 
and  upon  his  making  a  proper  concession,  I  will,  with  your 
approbation,  not  only  forgive  the  past,  but  leave  him  the  com- 
mand of  the  Ranger.  By  this  means,  and  by  some  little  pro- 
motions and  attentions,  that  may  be  consistent,  I  hope  to  be 
able  to  satisfy  the  Ranger's  crew,  so  that  they  will  postpone 
their  return  as  long  as  the  service  may  require." 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  private  conferences  between 
Franklin  and  the  French  minister,  the  object  which  the  com- 
missioners had  in  view  in  common,  was  plainly  to  pacify  the 


PAUL   JONES.  119 

crew  of  the  Ranger,  to  retain  as  many  of  her  able  seamen  as 
were  willing  to  serve,  and  to  send  her  home  after  the  exchange 
of  prisoners.  On  the  16th  June,  Franklin  had  written  to  Mr. 
David  Hartley,  in  consequence  of  advices  from  him  that  the 
British  ministry  had  agreed  to  an  exchange  of  prisoners,  pro- 
posing the  manner  of  effecting  it,  and  offering  the  solemn 
engagement  of  the  commissioners,  that  if  the  British  govern- 
ment would  give  up  all  their  prisoners  at  once,  a  number  of 
British  sailors  equal  to  the  surplus  should  be  delivered  to  Lord 
Howe  in  America,  or  to  his  order,  as  soon  as  the  agreement 
should  arrive  there.*  These  arrangements  would  naturally 
occupy  some  little  time  ;  and  meanwhile  the  crew  of  the  Ran- 
ger were,  as  Jones  says,  "  naked,"  and  discontented. 

The  very  event  which  arrayed  the  fleets  of  France  and  Eng- 
land against  each  other,  deprived  Jones  of  the  command  of  the 
'  great  ship"  at  Amsterdam.  He  says  in  his  Journal  for  the 
king :  "  the  action  of  the  Belle  Poule,  which  began  the  war  be- 
tween France  and  England,  deranged  the  plan  in  contemplation, 
and  greatly  interfered  with  the  views  of  court  respecting  Cap- 
tain Jones.  It  was  understood  the  States  of  Holland  made  great 
difficulty,  respecting  the  Indien,  that  still  remained  at  Amster- 
dam. Captain  Jones  offered  to  give  up  the  project,  and  return 
to  the  Ranger.  To  prevent  this,  the  minister  wrote  a  letter  to 
the  commissioners,  requesting  their  permission  for  Captain 
Jones  to  remain  for  a  time  in  Europe,  where  he  would  be 
honourably  employed  to  promote  the  common  cause." 

The  embryo  schemes  agitated  between  Jones,  Franklin,  and 
the  Minister,  whatever  they  may  have  been,  were  abandoned, 
as  well  as  the  command  of  the  Indien.  In  reply  to  the  request 
of  the  latter,  above  alluded  to,  the  commissioners  acquiesced,  in 
the  following  terms.  "  We  readily  consent  that  he  should  be  at 
your  excellency's  disposition  ;  and  shall  be  happy  if  his  services 
may  be  in  any  respect  useful  to  the  designs  your  excellency  may 
have  in  contemplation." 

*  Diplomatic  Correspondence,  I.  400. 


120  PAUL   JONES. 

On  the  17th  July,  a  few  days  after,  Jones  wrote  himself,  to 
make  his  acknowledgements  to  the  minister.  He  speaks  of  his 
return  in  the  Ranger  as  a  thing  in  immediate  contemplation. 
It  is  obvious  that  he  desired  to  quicken  the  movements  of  the 
minister,  and  to  induce  him  to  prevent  his  departure  by  confer- 
ring a  real  appointment,  in  lieu  of  holding  out  shadowy  and 
changeful  promises. 

"  Passy,  July  17th,  1778. 
"  M.  DE  SARTINE, 

"  My  Lord — I  should  be  ungrateful  did  I  not  return  my  thanks 
for  your  kind  and  generous  intentions  in  my  favour.  My  great- 
est ambition  would  be  to  merit  your  future  approbation,  by  my 
services  against  the  common  enemy  of  France  and  America. 
Had  your  first  plan  taken  effect,  the  most  pleasing  prospect  of 
success  would  have  been  before  me.  But  that  now  seems  a 
distant  object. 

"I  have  no  doubt,  that  many  projects  might  be  formed  from 
the  hints  which  I  had  the  honour  of  sending  lately  for  your  in- 
spection :  had  I  been  intrusted  with  the  chief  command,  I  would 
have  held  myself  responsible  for  consequences. 

"  I  am  bound  in  honour  to  communicate  faithfully  to  Con- 
gress the  generous  offer  which  the  King  now  makes,  of  lending 
the  Epervier  in  the  meantime  to  be  employed  under  my  com- 
mand, under  the  flag  of  America.  I  would  thankfully  have 
accepted  this  offer,  the  moment  it  was  communicated  to  me, 
had  no  difficulties  occurred  on  account  of  the  situation  of  the 
American  funds.  I  have  now  under  my  command  a  ship  bound 
to  America.  On  my  arrival  there,  from  the  former  confidence 
of  Congress,  I  have  reason  to  expect  an  immediate  removal  into 
one  of  their  best  ships.  I  have  reason  to  expect  the  chief  com- 
mand of  the  first  squadron  destined  for  an  expedition,  having 
in  my  possession  several  similar  appointments  ;  and  when  Con- 
gress see  fit  to  appoint  admirals,  I  have  assurance  that  my  name 
will  not  be  forgot.  These  are  flattering  prospects  to  a  man 
who  has  drawn  his  sword  only  upon  principles  of  philanthropy, 


PAUL    JONES. 

and  in  support  of  the  dignity  of  human  nature.  But  as  I  prefer 
a  solid  to  a  shining  reputation,  a  useful  to  a  splendid  command, 
I  hold  myself  ready,  with  the  approbation  of  the  commissioners, 
to  be  governed  by  you  in  any  measures  that  may  tend  to  dis- 
tress and  humble  the  common  enemy." 

The  offer  of  the  Epervier,  for  the  reasons  assigned  by  Jones, 
was  little  more  than  a  compliment.  The  ratifications  of  the 
treaties  between  the  United  States  and  France,  were  exchanged 
on  the  same  day  on  which  the  foregoing  letter  was  written. 
War  had  not  even  yet  been  formally  declared,  but  had  in  fact 
begun  at  sea,  with  large  preparations  on  both  sides.  A  violent 
impress  had  been  made  in  England  among  the  crews  of  mer- 
chantmen, and  France  required  all  her  own  seamen.  The 
commissioners,  or  more  properly,  the  plenipotentiaries,  found 
great  difficulty  in  procuring  loans,  even  in  small  amounts,  and 
were  apprehensive  that  they  would  not  be  able  to  meet  the  drafts 
of  Congress  for  the  interest  of  certificates.  In  their  letter  to  the 
President  of  Congress,  communicating  this  intelligence,  they 
mentioned  that  the  only  two  commercial  agents  in  France,  were 
Mr.  John  Bonfield  of  Bordeaux,  and  Mr.  J.  D.  Schweighauser  at 
Nantes,  both  appointed  by  Mr.  William  Lee ;  and  recommended 
the  appointment  of  consuls.* 

Negotiations  on  various  points,  growing  out  of  the  treaties, 
the  intimation  that  England  would  recognise  the  independence 
of  America,  provided  the  latter  would  make  a  separate  peace, 
and  the  immediate  necessity  of  procuring  funds,  at  this  time  fully 
occupied  the  attention  of  the  commissioners.  M.  de  Sartine 
entertained  one  of  the  numerous  projects  which  Jones  had  sub- 
mitted to  him,  either  to  appease  his  impatience,  or  with  the 
real  intention  of  carrying  it  into  execution.  This  was  the 
capture  or  destruction  of  the  Baltic  fleet.  He  says,  in  his 
Journal  for  the  king  of  France,  "  for  this  object  three  frigates 
and  two  cutters  were  destined ;  and  Captain  Jones  appointed  to 
command  the  whole.  One  of  the  frigates  lay  at  Brest,  which 


*  Diplomatic  Correspondence,  I.  407. 

15 


122  PAUL   JONES. 

he  was  to  command  in  person,  and  join  the  other  two,  and  the 
cutter  at  St.  Malo.  Two  days  before  Captain  Jones  returned 
to  Brest,  Count  D'Orvilliers  having  returned  from  his  first 
cruise  and  the  battle  of  Ushant,  had  given  the  command  of  the 
frigate  in  question  to  a  French  officer.  The  Minister  of  the 
Marine,  finding  many  difficulties  he  had  not  foreseen,  from 
the  cabals  of  French  officers  for  commands,  sent  orders  for 
the  frigates  and  cutters  to  proceed  from  St.  Malo,  under  the 
command  of  the  senior  captain,  against  the  Baltic  fleet.  That 
force  sailed  round  the  east  of  England,  north  of  Scotland,  and 
west  of  Ireland,  without  having  succeeded." 

So  confident  was  he  that  he  would  be  employed  in  this  expe- 
dition, that  he  made  inquiries  for  a  chaplain.  The  qualifica- 
tions he  desired  to  find  in  such  an  officer,  he  thus  mentions  in 
writing  to  a  friend  :  "I  should  wish  him  to  be  a  man  of  read- 
ing and  letters,  who  understands,  speaks,  and  writes  the  French 
and  English  with  elegance  and  propriety.  For  political  reasons, 
it  would  be  well  if  he  were  a  clergyman  of  the  Protestant 
profession,  whose  sanctity  of  manners,  and  happy  natural  prin- 
ciples would  diffuse  unanimity  and  cheerfulness  through  the 
ship ;  and  if  to  these  essentials  were  added  the  talent  of  writing 
fast,  and  in  fair  characters,  such  a  man  would  necessarily  be 
worthy  the  highest  confidence,  and  might,  therefore,  assure  him- 
self of  a  place  at  my  table,  the  regulations  whereof  should  be 
entirely  under  his  direction."  On  the  6th  August,  he  also  wrote 
to  General  Washington  informing  him  of  his  reasons  for  con- 
tinuing in  service  in  Europe,  and  begging  his  acceptance  of  two 
epaulettes,  which  he  had  expected  to  deliver  himself,  and  which 
Mr.  Williams  had  undertaken  to  forward.* 

On  the  10th  August,  Jones  left  Passy  for  Brest,  in  the  anti- 
cipation of  receiving  this  command,  and  was  disappointed  in  the 


I  find  these  letters,  in  the  life  published  by  Murray  in  1825. 


PAUL    JONES.  123 

manner  he  has  mentioned.  It  may  readily  be  supposed,  that 
he  was  not  in  the  best  possible  humour  to  brook  what  he  con- 
ceived to  be  a  downright  indignity  offered  to  himself.  Yet  such 
he  had  to  encounter.  It  will  be  recollected  that  on  the  16th 
June,  he  had  offered  to  give  up  the  parole  of  Lieutenant  Simp- 
son, and  on  the  4th  July,  had  consented  to  let  him  take  com- 
mand of  the  ship.  The  lieutenant  was  not  backward  in  ac- 
cepting these  concessions,  and  it  appears  he  went  much  farther. 
Jones  says,  "  he  took  command  of  the  Ranger,  without  accepting 
the  captain's  proposal,  or  having  his  parole  given  up.  On  the 
contrary,  it  seemed  afterwards  he  rather  gave  out  that  Captain 
Jones  had  been  called  to  account  by  the  commissioners,  and 
turned  out  to  make  way  for  him  !"  He  wrote  to  the  commission- 
ers on  this  subject,  in  these  terms. 

"  Brest,  August  15th,  1778. 
"  GENTLEMEN, 

"I  have  been  fi*re  days  in  this  place  since  my  return  from 
Passy,  during  which  time  I  have  neither  seen  nor  heard  from 
Lieutenant  Simpson ;  but  Mr.  Hill,  who  was  last  winter  at  Passy, 
and  who  sailed  with  me  from  Nantes,  informs  me  truly,  that  it 
is  generally  reported  in  the  Ranger,  and  of  course  throughout 
the  French  fleet,  and  on  shore,  that  I  am  turned  out  of  the  ser- 
vice ;  that  you,  gentlemen,  have  given  Mr.  Simpson  my  place, 
with  a  captain's  commission,  and  that  my  letter  to  you  of  the 
16th  July  was  involuntary  on  my  part,  and  in  obedience  only  to 
your  orders. 

"That  these  reports  prevail,  is  not  an  idle  conjecture,  but  a 
melancholy  fact.  Therefore  I  beseech  you  ;  I  demand  of  you 
to  afford  me  redress — redress  by  a  court  martial ;  to  form  which 
we  have  now,  with  the  assistance  of  Captain  Hinman,  Captain 
Read,  as  also  them  at  Nantes,  a  sufficient  number  of  officers  in 
France,  exclusive  of  myself.  The  Providence  and  Britain  are 
expected  here  very  soon  from  Nantes,  and  I  am  certain  that 
they  neither  can  nor  will  again  depart,  before  my  friend  Cap- 
tain Hinman  can  come  down  here ;  and  it  is  his  unquestioned 
right  to  succeed  me  in  the  Ranger. 


124  PAUL   JONES. 

"  I  have  faithfully  and  personally  supported  and  fought  the 
dignified  cause  of  human  nature,  ever  since  the  American  6an 
ners  first  waved  on  the  Delaware  and  on  the  ocean.  This  I 
did  when  that  man  did  not  call  himself  a  republican,  but  left 
the  continent,  and  served  its  enemies  ;  and  this  I  did  when  this 
man  appeared  backward,  and  did  not  support  me  as  he  ought. 

"  I  conclude  by  requesting  you  to  call  before  you,  and  examine 
for  your  own  satisfaction,  Mr.  Edward  Meyers,  who  is  now 
at  the  house  of  the  Swedish  Ambassador,  and  who,  having  been 
with  me  as  a  volunteer,  can  and  will,  I  am  persuaded,  represent 
to  you  the  conduct  of  the  officers  and  men  towards  me,  both 
before  I  left  Brest,  and  afterwards  in  the  Irish  channel,  as  well 
as  my  conduct  towards  them. — I  have  the  honour  to  be,  &c.  &c 
"  Their  Excellencies  the  American  Plenipotentiaries." 

On  the  18th  August,  he  wrote  to  Captain  Abraham  Whipple, 
then  at  Brest,  requesting  that  a  court  martial  might  be  sum- 
moned for  the  trial  of  Simpson  ;  and  the  commissioners  gave 
directions  to  the  same  effect,  provided  there  was  a  sufficient 
number  of  officers  to  constitute  one.  At  the  same  time  they 
directed  that  no  change  should  take  place  in  the  command  of 
the  Ranger,  until  the  trial  should  be  over,  nor  then,  should  the 
lieutenant  be  acquitted.  Captain  Whipple  in  a  letter  to  Jones, 
explained  the  impossibility  of  calling  a  court,  as  Captain  Hin- 
mun,  who  expected  a  court  of  inquiry  into  his  own  conduct,  on 
his  return  to  America,  declined  sitting.  He  also  added  that  in 
his  opinion  Jones  had  given  up  the  parole  of  Simpson,  in  the 
most  ample  manner,  without  asking  for  concessions,  and  that 
the  commissioners  understood  it  in  the  same  light.*  The  un- 
impassioned  reader  will  probably  coincide  in  opinion  with  Cap- 
tain Whipple.  But  under  the  pressure  of  so  many  disappoint- 
ments, and  finding  himself  without  any  ship  at  all,  the  reports 
which  fell  upon  the  ear  of  Jones  as  to  the  lieutenant's  misstate- 
ments  of  what  had  been  magnanimity  on  his  part,  would  have 


*  Diplomatic  Correspondence,  I.  400. 


PAUL    JONES.  125 

stung  to  anger  one  of  a  far  less  hasty  temper.  The  seemingly 
insulting  triumph  of  Simpson  was  neither  quietly  to  be  endured, 
nor  soon  forgotten. 

It  did  not  enter  into  Jones'  sense  of  what  was  due  to  his  rank 
and  self  respect,  to  seek  satisfaction  to  the  injury  of  the  service, 
from  one  whom  he  conceived  he  had  laid  under  unmerited  obli- 
gations.   Lieutenant  Simpson  sailed  in  the  Ranger  for  America. 
On  the  30th  August,  the  Captain's  friend  Mr.  Williams,  writing 
to  him  from  Nantes  in  relation  to  the  pending  sale  of  the  Drake, 
said :  "  I  am  sorry  your  affair  with  Lieutenant  Simpson  was 
not  settled  with  mutual  satisfaction.     If  he  was  not  gone,  I 
should  answer  his  charge  of  falsehood  with  the  following  para- 
graph of  his  own  letter  to  me,  of  the  1st  August,  to  mine,  which 
you  say  he  calls  false,  viz  :   '  I  recollect  my  telling  you  when  at 
Brest,  that  if  Captain  Jones  had  condescended  to  have  made 
any  inquiry,  or  permitted  me  to  speak  to  him  on  the  matter  of 
my  confinement,  I  was  ready  to  give  him  any  satisfaction  con- 
sonant to  truth.'     It  is  strange  he  should  recollect  this  when  he 
wrote  me  the  letter,  and  forget  it  again  when  he  told  Mr.  Hill 
it  was  false.     Lieutenant  Simpson's  letter  to  me  is  in  very  re- 
spectful terms,  and  I  wrote  him  a  letter  of  thanks  in  return. 
He  desired  me  in  it  to  present  his  respects  to  you,  and  to  tell 
you  that  '  your  recommendation  to  the  commissioners,  which  I 
mentioned,  would,  with  any  services  you  had  done  him,  be  ever 
remembered  with  gratitude.     This  gave  me  great  pleasure, 
<fcc.' "     The  Providence,  Boston,  and  Ranger,  arrived  safe  in 
America,  having  taking  two  or  three  merchant  vessels.     Lieu- 
tenant Simpson  was  not  afterwards  employed  in  the  continental 
service.     In  February  following,  the  commissioners  addressed 
a  letter  to  Jones,  stating,  that  as  his  separation  from  the  Ranger, 
and  the  appointment  of  Lieutenant  Simpson  to  the  command 
of  her  would  be  liable  to  misinterpretations,  they  certified  that 
his  leaving  her  was  by  their  consent,  at  the  express  request  of 
M.  de   Sartine,  who  informed  them  that  he  had  occasion  to 
employ    Jones   in   some   public    service ;    that    Simpson   was 
appointed  to  the  command  by  the  consent  of  Jones,  who  had 


126  PAUL    JONES. 

released  him  from  the  arrest  he  had  placed  him  under ;  that 
Jones'  rank  in  the  navy  was  not  prejudiced  by  his  leaving  the 
Ranger ;  and  that  his  commission  remained  in  full  force.  It 
seemed  proper,  having  given  the  letters  of  Jones  on  this  subject, 
to  lay  the  whole  statement  before  the  reader,  who,  we  fear  will 
have  found  it  rather  tedious. 

We  should  not  have  omitted  to  mention,  that  as  it  was  one 
of  the  first,  so  it  was  one  of  the  constant  subjects  of  application 
to  the  commissioners  by  Jones,  to  procure  from  them  a  strong 
recommendation  to  Congress  on  behalf  of  the  men  who  served 
under  him  in  the  Ranger,  and  of  those  in  particular  who  landed 
with  him  at  Whitehaven.  On  the  day  he  left  Passy,  they 
addressed  a  letter  to  him,  informing  him  that  they  had  complied 
with  his  request. 

While  waiting  for  the  minister  to  fulfil  his  promises,  Jones 
asked  for  and  obtained,  but  too  late,  orders  to  Count  D'Orvilliers 
to  receive  him  on  board  of  the  Bretagne.  The  fleet  had  left 
the  harbour  of  Brest,  while  he  was  at  L'Orient  on  a  fruitless 
errand.  In  his  letter  to  Franklin,  dated  August  24th,  in  which 
he  urges  this  request,  he  says  :  "  I  wish  not  to  be  thought  too 
impatient,  but  you  know,  my  dear  sir,  that  this  is  the  nice 
moment,  when  I  ought  either  to  be  in  search  of  marine 
knowledge  with  Count  D'Orvilliers,  or  in  search  of  honour,  in 
attempting  some  private  enterprise.  Before  I  was  at  liberty  to 
go,  the  good  old  Count  pressed  me  much  to  accompany  him  ; 
but  since  Doctor  Bancroft  has  informed  me,  that  it  would  be 
agreeable  to  the  minister  that  I  should  go,  I  have  been  pre- 
cluded from  following  the  fleet,  as  the  present  commandant  has 
no  orders  for  that  purpose."  With  this  letter  he  forwarded 
one,  open,  to  the  prince  of  Nassau,  requesting  Franklin  to  with- 
hold it,  if  he  found  any  thing  improper  in  its  contents.  We  learn 
from  Franklin's  reply,  that  it  was  delivered ;  but  it  was  not 
answered,  as  the  prince  had  changed  his  mind.  It  was  as 
follows : 


PAUL    JONES. 

"  His  HIGHNESS  THE  PRINCE  DE  NASSAU. 

"  MY  PRINCE — The  honour  which  you  propose  to  do  me,  by 
accompanying  me  on  the  ocean,  fills  my  heart  with  the  warmest 
sentiments  of  gratitude. 

"  When  your  intentions  were  communicated  to  me,  I  had 
under  my  command  a  ship  bound  in  company  with  two  fine 
frigates  for  America,  where  there  are  now  two  new  ships  of 
eighty  guns  each,  and  eight  frigates  of  forty  guns  each,  nearly 
ready  for  sea. 

"  On  my  arrival  there,  from  the  former  confidence  of  Congress, 
I  had  assurance  of  an  immediate  removal  into  one  of  their  best 
ships,  and  to  have  been  appointed  to  command  the  first  squad- 
ron which  they  thought  fit  to  destine  for  any  private  expedition. 
Before  I  came  to  Europe,  Congress  honoured  me  with  several 
such  appointments,  and  I  had  assurance,  that  when  admirals 
were  appointed,  my  name  would  be  remembered. 

"  These,  my  Prince,  were  flattering  prospects  to  a  man  who 
drew  his  sword  only  from  principles  of  philanthropy,  and  in 
support  of  the  dignity  of  human  nature ;  and  these  are  the 
prospects  I  have  voluntarily  laid  aside,  that  I  may  pursue  glory 
in  your  company. 

"  Suffer  me  not,  therefore,  I  beseech  you,  to  continue  longer 
in  this  shameful  inactivity ;  such  dishonour  is  worse  to  me  than 
a  thousand  deaths.  I  have  already  lost  the  golden  season,  the 
summer,  which,  in  war,  is  of  more  value  than  all  the  rest  of  the 
year.  I  appear  here  as  a  person  cast  off  and  useless ;  and 
when  any  one  asks  me  what  I  purpose  to  do,  I  am  unable  to 
answer. 

"  Had  this  been  my  first  or  second  disappointment,  I  should 
have  said  nothing  concerning  it.  After  various  other  objects 
had  misgiven  before  I  left  Passy,  which  M.  de  Sartine  had 
thought  of,  to  keep  me  employed,  until  the  scheme  wherein  you 
were  concerned  could  take  place,  I  was  ordered  down  here  at 
so  short  a  notice,  that  I  had  not  time,  before  my  departure,  to 
take  leave  of  you  ;  yet,  on  my  arrival  here,  I  found  that  what 
had  been  proposed  for  me,  was  bestowed  on  others.  I  then 


PAUL   JONES. 

offered  to  follow  Count  D'Orvilliers  as  a  volunteer,  agreeably 
to  his  kind  invitation ;  but  M.  de  la  Prevalaye  will  not  permit 
this,  it  not  being  mentioned  in  his  orders. 

"  I  have,  my  Prince,  been  unaccustomed  to  ask  any  favours, 
even  from  Congress,  for  I  am  not  in  pursuit  of  interest ;  yet, 
let  me  beseech  you  to  represent  my  situation  to  the  best  of 
kings,  that  1  may,  with  you,  be  forthwith  enabled  to  pursue 
glory,  and  humble  the  common  enemy  of  humanity. 

"  If  the  ship  that  was  at  first  proposed,  cannot  with  certainty 
be  got  ready  for  sea  next  month,  you,  my  Prince,  can  obtain 
another,  with  the  Epervier  and  the  Alert,  tenders.  There  is  a 
fine  frigate  at  L'Orient,  built  on  the  same  construction  with 
the  ship  at  first  proposed,  and  mounted  with  eighteen-pounders. 
This  ship  has  been  at  India,  is  known  to  sail  fast,  and  may, 
perhaps,  be  obtained,  till  it  is  seen  whether  the  other  can  be 
got  out. 

"  If  this  ship  is  refused,  there  are  many  other  fine  frigates 
newly  built  at  St.  Malos,  and  other  places,  to  which  I  hear  of 
no  commanders  being  appointed.  I  have  the  greatest  depen- 
dance  on  the  generous  intentions  of  that  great  minister,  M.  de 
Sartine,  but  I  cannot  every  day  intrude  on  him  with  letters,  and, 
in  the  multiplicity  and  importance  of  his  affairs,  my  concerns 
may  escape  his  memory. 

"  I  wish  for  the  honour  of  a  letter  from  your  own  hand ; 
though  I  cannot  write  in  French,  yet  I  understand  letters  which 
are  written  in  that  language ;  and  I  have  with  me  now  a  lieu- 
tenant that  speaks  it  well. 

"  My  Prince,  your's,  &c." 

On  the  28th,  he  wrote  pressingly  to  Compte  D'Orvilliers  for 
directions  to  M.  Prevaiaye  to  permit  his  embarkation  with  the 
fleet,  should  a  vessel  be  sent  in  with  letters.  "  I  ardently  wish," 
he  says,  "  to  attend  you  with  my  eyes,  even  to  the  pinnacle  of 
fame  ;  and  to  learn  from  so  great  and  good  a  general,  how  I 
may  hereafter  ascend  the  slippery  precipices,  beyond  which  the 
edifice  is  erected." 


PAUL   JONES.  129 

M.  Prevalaye,  the  commandant,  who  did  not  feel  at  liberty  to 
allow  the  captain  to  go  on  board  of  the  fleet,  also  refused  to 
furnish  any  guard  for  the  prisoners,  after  the  armed  vessels  of 
France  had  left  the  port.  After  much  trouble,  an  exchange  had 
been  agreed  upon,  and  a  cartel  provided  for ;  and  in  these  cir- 
cumstances, there  was  nothing  to  prevent  the  prisoners  from 
defeating  the  object  of  the  protracted  negotiation,  by  departing 
of  their  own  accord.  Jones  wrote  in  terms  of  authority  to  Mr. 
T.  Lee,  the  deputy  agent,  and  of  earnest  request  to  the  Inten- 
dant  of  the  port  and  the  commissioners,  to  prevent  this  catas- 
trophe. For  his  perseverance  in  procuring  a  guard,  he  received 
the  hearty  commendation  of  Franklin;  who,  in  his  letter  of  the 
6th  February,  said,  "  your  letter  was  sent  to  the  Prince  de 
Nassau.  I  am  confident  something  will  be  done  for  you, 
though  I  do  not  yet  know  what.  I  sympathize  with  you  in 
what  I  know  you  must  suffer,  from  your  present  inactivity  ;  but 
have  patience."  But  nothing  was  done  ;  and  patience  was 
not  perhaps  the  most  prominent  virtue  in  Jones'  character. 

On  the  31st  he  wrote  to  Franklin,  desiring  as  the  American 
frigates  had  sailed  on  the  22d,  that  his  letter  of  the  15th  de- 
manding a  court  martial  for  Simpson,  might  be  suppressed,  if 
it  had  not  been  presented  to  the  commissioners.  He  adds : 
"  It  is  here  reported  that  the  Jamaica  fleet  of  70  sail,  under 
convoy  of  the  Portland  and  four  frigates,  passed  in  sight  of  the 
Brest  fleet,  and  got  clear,  because  Compte  D'Orvilliers  would 
not  break  his  line  to  give  chase.  I  wish  to  disbelieve  this 
account ;  because  I  had  written  to  him  that  such  a  fleet  was 
expected."  "  I  endeavour  to  console  myself  with  the  reflection, 
that  my  own  situation  cannot  well  be  altered  for  the  worse.  I 
must  acknowledge,  however,  that  I  have  need  of  some  of  your 
philosophy." 

Among  the  great  vexations  to  which  he  was  subjected  at  this 
time,  were  others  of  a  petty  nature,  well  calculated  to  provoke 
him  in  the  isolated  and  expectant  situation  in  which  he  seemed 
to  find  himself.  Fifty  casks  of  the  prize  porter,  which  he  had 
orders  from  the  commissioners  to  receive,  were  refused  him  by 

16 


130  PAUL   JONES. 

a  sub-agent,  unless  he  would  pay  ready  money  for  them ;  and 
he  was  invited  to  accompany  the  same  agent  to  see  the  plate 
weighed  over  again.  On  the  13th  September  he  determined 
to  write  to  the  minister,  what  he  calls  in  his  epistle  to  Frank- 
lin, an  explicit  letter.  It  is  a  summary  of  his  past  disap- 
pointments. 

"  HONOURED  SIR, 

"  When  his  excellency  Doctor  Franklin  informed  me  that  you 
had  condescended  to  think  me  worthy  of  your  notice,  I  took 
such  pleasure  in  reflecting  on  the  happy  alliance  between  France 
and  America,  that  I  was  really  flattered,  and  entertained  the 
most  grateful  sense  of  the  honour  which  you  proposed  for  me, 
as  well  as  the  favour  which  the  king  proposed  for  America,  by 
putting  so  fine  a  ship  of  war  as  the  Indien  under  my  command, 
and  under  its  flag,  with  unlimited  orders. 

"  In  obedience  to  your  desire,  I  came  to  Versailles,  and  was 
taught  to  believe  that  my  intended  ship  was  in  deep  water,  and 
ready  for  the  sea ;  but  when  the  Prince  (de  Nassau)  returned,  I 
received  from  him  a  different  account ;  I  was  told  that  the  In- 
dien could  not  be  got  afloat  within  a  shorter  period  than  three 
months,  at  the  approaching  equinox. 

"  To  employ  this  interval  usefully,  I  first  offered  to  go  from 
Brest  with  Count  D'Orvilliers,  as  a  volunteer,  which  you  thought 
fit  to  reject.  I  had  then  the  satisfaction  to  find  that  you  appro- 
ved in  general  of  a  variety  of  hints  for  private  enterprises,  which 
I  had  drawn  up  for  your  consideration,  and  I  was  flattered  with 
assurances  from  Messieurs  de  Chaumont  and  Bandonin,  that 
three  of  the  finest  frigates  in  France,  with  two  tenders,  and  a 
number  of  troops,  would  be  immediately  put  under  my  com- 
mand ;  and  that  I  should  have  unlimited  orders,  and  be  at 
free  liberty  to  pursue  such  of  my  own  projects  as  I  thought 
proper.  But  this  plan  fell  to  nothing,  in  the  moment  when  I 
was  taught  to  think  that  nothing  was  wanting  but  the  King's 
signature. 

"  Another  much  inferior  armament  from  L'Orient  was  pro- 


PAUL   JONES.  131 

posed  to  be  put  under  my  command,  which  was  by  no  means 
equal  to  the  services  that  were  expected  from  it ;  for  speed  and 
force,  though  both  requisite,  were  both  wanting.  Happily  for 
me  this  also  failed,  and  I  was  thereby  saved  from  a  dreadful 
prospect  of  ruin  and  dishonour. 

"  I  had  so  entire  a  reliance  that  you  would  desire  nothing  of 
me  inconsistent  with  my  honour  and  rank,  that  the  moment  you 
required  me  to  come  down  here,  in  order  to  proceed  round  to 
St.  Malo,  though  I  had  received  no  written  orders,  and  neither 
knew  your  intention  respecting  my  destination  or  command,  I 
obeyed  with  such  haste,  that  although  my  curiosity  led  me  to 
look  at  the  armament  at  L'Orient,  yet  I  was  but  three  days 
from  Passy  till  I  reached  Brest.  Here  too  I  drew  a  blank ; 
but  when  I  saw  the  Lively,  it  was  no  disappointment,  as  that 
ship,  both  in  sailing  and  equipment,  is  far  inferior  to  the  Ranger. 

"  My  only  disappointment  here  was  my  being  precluded  from 
embarking  in  pursuit  of  marine  knowledge  with  Count  D'Or- 
villiers,  who  did  not  sail  till  sev  ?n  days  after  my  return.  He  is. 
my  friend,  and  expressed  his  wishes  for  my  company ;  I  accom- 
panied him  out  of  the  road  when  the  fleet  sailed ;  and  he  always 
lamented  that  neither  himself  nor  any  person  in  authority  in 
Brest,  had  received  from  you  any  order  that  mentioned  my  name. 
I  am  astonished,  therefore,  to  be  informed  that  you  attribute 
my  not  being  i»  the  fleet  to  my  stay  at  L'Orient.* 

I  am  not  a  mere  adventurer  of  fortune.  Stimulated  by 
principles  of  reason  and  philanthropy,  I  laid  aside  my  enjoy- 
ments in  private  life,  and  embarked  under  the  flag  of  America 
when  it  was  first  displayed.  In  that  line  my  desire  of  fame  is 
infinite,  and  I  must  not  now  so  far  forget  my  own  honour,  and 
what  I  owe  to  my  friends  and  America,  as  to  remain  inactive. 

"  My  rank  knows  no  superior  in  the  American  marine :  I 
have  long  since  been  appointed  to  command  an  expedition  with 
five  of  its  ships,  and  I  can  receive  orders  from  no  junior  or 
inferior  officer  whatever. 


*  Franklin  had  so  informed  Jones  in  a  letter  of  the  6th. 


PAUL   JONES. 

"  I  have  been  here  in  the  most  tormenting  suspense  for  more 
than  a  month  since  my  return  ;  and  agreeable  to  your  desire, 
as  mentioned  to  me  by  Monsieur  Chaumont,  a  lieutenant  has 
been  appointed,  and  is  with  me,  who  speaks  the  French  as  well 
as  the  English.  Circular  letter^  have  been  written,  and  sent 
the  8th  of  last  month  from  the  English  Admiralty,  because  they 
expected  me  to  pay  another  visit  with  four  ships.  Therefore, 
I  trust  that,  if  the  Indien  is  not  to  be  got  out,  you  will  not,  at 
the  approaching  season,  substitute  a  force  that  is  not  at  least 
equal  both  in  strength  and  sailing  to  any  of  the  enemy's  cruising 
ships. 

"  I  do  not  wish  to  interfere  with  the  harmony  of  the  French 
marine ;  but  if  I  am  still  thought  worthy  of  your  attention,  I 
shall  hope  for  a  separate  command,  with  liberal  orders.  If,  on 
the  contrary,  you  should  now  have  no  further  occasion  for  my 
services,  the  only  favour  I  can  ask  is,  that  you  will  bestow  on 
me  the  Alert,  with  a  few  seamen,  and  permit  me  to  return,  and 
carry  with  me  your  good  opinion  in  that  small  vessel,  before  the 
winter,  to  America. 

"  I  am  happy  to  hear  that  frigates  from  St.  Malo  have  been 
successful  near  Shetland.  Had  Count  D'Estaing  arrived  in  the 
Delaware*  a  few  days  sooner,  he  might  have  made  a  most 
glorious  and  easy  conquest.  Many  other  successful  projects 
may  be  adopted  from  the  hints  I  had  the  honour  to  draw  up ; 
and  if  I  can  still  furnish  more,  or  execute  any  of  those  already 
furnished,  so  as  to  distress  and  humble  the  common  enemy,  it 
will  afford  me  the  truest  satisfaction. 

"  I  am  ambitious  to  merit  the  honour  of  your  friendship  and 
favour  ;  and  being  fully  persuaded  that  I  now  address  a  noble 
minded  man,  who  will  not  be  offended  with  the  honest  freedom 
which  has  always  marked  my  correspondence,  I  am,  &c." 

In  enclosing  this  letter  to  Franklin,  he  requests  him  to  sup- 
press it,  if  he  should  find  it  amiss,  and  observes  that  he  should 
have  made  no  mention  of  his  rank,  had  it  not  been  hinted  to 

*  Note  in  the  Margin,  by  Jones,  "  I  gave  the  plan  for  that  expedition." 


PAUL   JONES.  133 

him  that  it  was  proposed  to  send  him  from  St.  Malo,  under  the 
command  of  French  lieutenants.  This  hint  he  says  in  a  mar- 
ginal note,  was  a  mistake.  He  adds  :  "  The  frigates  from  St. 
Malo  were  sent  in  consequence  of  a  hint,  which  I  furnished. 
Though  I  am  myself  neglected,  I  hope  they  have  been  very 
successful.  It  is  in  vain  for  the  minister  to  pretend  that  he  has 
not  ships  to  bestow.  I  know  the  contrary.  He  has  bestowed 
the  Renommee  and  others  here  since  my  return  ;  and  there  are 
yet  several  new  ships  unbestowed  at  St.  Malo  and  elsewhere. 
I  know  too,  that  unless  the  States  of  Holland  oppose  it,  the 
Indien  can  be  got  afloat  with  a  tenth  part  of  the  difficulty  that 
has  been  represented.  If  I  was  worth  his  notice  at  the  begin- 
ning, I  am  not  less  so  now.  After  all,  you  have  desired  me  to 
have  patience,  and  I  promise  you  that  I  will  wait  your  kind 
advice,  and  take  no  step  without  your  approbation.  If  it  were 
consistent  and  convenient  for  you  to  see  M.  de  Sartine,  I  should 
hope  that  such  an  explanation  would  be  the  consequence,  as 
might  remove  every  cause  of  uneasiness."  The  letter  to  De 
Sartine  was  submitted,  before  its  delivery,  to  the  Due  de  Roche- 
foucault. 

On  the  18th,  he  wrote  to  Franklin,  that  he  had  seen  the  Fox, 
a  sloop  of  war  mounting  24  guns,  which  had  been  taken  by  the 
Hancock  and  Adams,  and  that  he  would  accept  of  her,  attended 
by  the  Alert  as  a  tender,  if  nothing  better  should  offer.  On  the 
21st  he  addressed  the  Due  de  Chartres,  expressing  his  warm 
sense  of  the  kindness  shown  to  him  at  court  by  that  nobleman, 
and  repeating  his  successive  disappointments.  He  concluded  by 
saying :  "  If  the  minister  has  no  farther  occasion  for  my  ser- 
vices, I  have  then  only  to  ask  permission  to  have  the  Alert,  and 
to  carry  with  me  to  America  his  good  opinion,  before  the  win- 
ter. As  in  my  present  mysterious  situation  here,  I  am  con- 
sidered an  officer  in  disgrace,  I  am  persuaded  I  need  make  no 
further  apology  to  a  brave  officer,  and  a  noble  minded  prince, 
for  the  liberty  I  take." 

He  received  at  this  period  encouraging  letters  from  his  friend 
Dr.  Bancroft,  at  Paris.  "  This  very  day"  (September  23d,)  he 


134  PAUL    JONES. 

said,  "  M.  Chaumont  has  gone  to  Versailles,  to  press  M.  d6 
Sartine  to  give  you  the  Fox  frigate.  If  this  should  be  denied, 
we  are  all  determined  to  let  the  great  man  know  in  strong  terms 
our  opinions  of  his  faithless  and  dishonourable  proceedings." 
And  on  the  6th  of  the  following  month,  Mr.  W.  T.  Franklin, 
grandson  of  the  plenipotentiary,  wrote  to  him  thus  :  "I  have 
felt  for  you  most  sincerely.  M.  S's  conduct  towards  you  has 
been  as  remarkable,  as  it  has  been  unjust,  and  has  altered  in  a 
great  degree  the  good  opinion  many  have  had  of  him.  I  have 
been  asked  in  several  companies,  '  Ou  est  le  brave  Capitaine 
Jones  ?  Quefait-il  ?'  and  have  felt  myself,  as  your  compatriot, 
in  a  manner  ill  treated,  when  I  can  only  answer,  that  you  are 
still  at  Brest.  On  the  receipt  of  your  letter,  I  asked  M.  Chau- 
mont, whether  he  thought  any  thing  would  be  done  for  you  ? 
He  answered,  that,  to  his  certain  knowledge,  M.  S.  was 
ashamed  of  the  conduct  he  had  held  towards  you,  and  that  he 
was  now  occupied  to  make  up  for  it."  He  added  in  a  postscript, 
what  he  had  learned  from  M.  Chaumont,  that  the  minister  had 
sworn  by  the  Styx,  on  the  day  previous,  '  that  he  would  give 
Captain  Jones  a  frigate,  were  he  even  to  buy  it ;'  and  enclosed 
a  copy  of  a  letter  from  Mr.  Bancroft  to  the  same  effect.  The 
latter  assured  Mr.  Franklin,  that  the  minister  had  all  along 
had  good  intentions ;  but  had  been  prevented  from  carrying 
them  into  execution,  by  the  jealousies  and  intrigues  of  the 
French  naval  officers.  As  these  were  naturally  to  be  expected, 
and  many  of  those  gentleman  were  actually  without  commands 
or  employment  at  the  time,  many  allowances  must  be  made  for 
M.  de  Sartine ;  who  must  have  felt  perplexed,  if  not  humiliated, 
by  the  breach  of  so  many  engagements.  On  the  9th  October, 
Jones  wrote  thus  in  terms  of  strong  expostulation,  to  the  Due 
de  Rouchefoucault. 

"  MY  LORD  DUKE, 

"  The  21st  ult.  I  wrote  a  particular  account  of  my  situation 
here,  to  his  Royal  Highness  the  Due  de  Chartres ;  but  that  brave 
prince  has,  I  understand,  met  with  unmerited  trouble,  and 


PAUL   JONES.  135 

of  course  has  not  leisure  to  remove  my  suspense.  The  minis- 
ter's  behaviour  towards  me  has  been  and  is  really  astonishing. 
At  his  request  (for  I  sought  not  the  connexion)  I  gave  up  abso- 
lute certainties,  and  far  more  flattering  prospects  than  any  of 
those  which  he  proposed.  What  inducement  could  I  have  for 
this  but  gratitude  to  France  for  having  first  recognised  our 
independence  ?  And  having  given  my  word  to  stay  for  some 
time  in  Europe,  I  have  been  and  am  unwilling  to  take  it  back, 
especially  after  having  communicated  the  circumstances  to 
Congress.  The  minister,  to  my  infinite  mortification,  after 
possessing  himself  of  my  schemes  and  ideas,  has  treated  me  like 
a  child  five  times  successively,  by  leading  me  on  from  great  to 
little,  and  from  little  to  less.  Does  such  conduct  do  honour 
either  to  his  head  or  to  his  heart  ?  He  has  not  to  this  moment 
offered  me  the  least  apology  for  any  of  these  five  deceptions  ; 
nor  has  he,  I  believe,  assigned  any  good  reason  to  that  venerable 
and  great  character,  his  Excellency  Doctor  Franklin,  whom  he 
has  made  the  instrument  to  entrap  me  in  this  cruel  state  of 
inaction  and  suspense. 

"  The  minister  has  lately  written  a  letter  to  Count  D'Or- 
villiers,  proposing  to  send  me  home  in  '  une  bonne  voiture.' 
This  is  absolutely  adding  insult  to  injury,  and  it  is  the  propo- 
sition of  a  man  whose  veracity  I  have  not  experienced  in  former 
cases. 

"  I  could  in  the  summer,  with  the  Ranger,  joined  with  the 
two  other  American  frigates,  have  given  the  enemy  sufficient 
foundation  for  their  fears  in  Britain  as  well  as  Ireland,  and 
could  since  have  been  assisting  Count  D'Estaing,  or  acting 
separately  with  an  American  squadron.  Instead  of  this,  I  am 
chained  down  to  shanleful  inactivity  here,  after  having  written 
to  Congress  to  reserve  no  command  for  me  in  America. 

"  Convinced  as  I  am,  that  your  noble  and  generous  breast 
will  feel  for  my  unmerited  treatment,  I  must  beseech  you  to 
interest  yourself  with  the  Duke  de  Chartres,  that  the  king  may 
be  made  acquainted  with  my  situation.  I  have  been  taught  to 
believe  that  I  have  been  detained  in  France  with  his  Majesty's 


136  PAUL   JONES. 

knowledge  and  approbation,  and  I  am  sure  he  is  too  good  a 
prince  to  detain  me  for  my  hurt  or  dishonour. 

"  M.  de  Sartine  may  think  as  he  pleases,  but  Congress  will 
not  thank  him  for  having  thus  treated  an  officer  who  has  always 
been  honoured  with  their  favour  and  friendship.  I  entertained 
some  hopes  of  his  honourable  intentions  till  he  gave  the  com- 
mand of  the  Fox  to  a  lieutenant,  after  my  friends  had  asked  for 
me  only  that  ship  with  the  Alert  cutter.  He  was  the  asker  at 
the  beginning,  and  ought  to  be  so  now ;  he  has,  to  my  certain 
knowledge,  ships  unbestowed,  and  he  is  bound  in  honour  to 
give  me  the  Indien,  as  he  proposed  at  the  first,  or  an  equivalent 
command,  immediately." 

On  the  13th  he  wrote  to  M.  Le  Ray  de  Chaumont*  as  follows  : 
"  I  accept  your  generous  encomiums  with  pleasure,  as  a  proof 
of  your  good  opinion  and  friendship,  which  I  shall  be  always 
ambitious  to  merit,  both  in  the  line  of  my  duty  as  an  American 
officer,  and  as  an  individual  who  esteems  the  affection  of  your 
family,  as  a  very  singular  honour.  I  believe  your  proposition 
respecting  your  ship  Union  to  be  very  disinterested ;  as  such  it 
claims  my  warmest  thanks.  But  I  am  not  my  own  master ; 
and  as  a  servant  of  the  Imperial  Republic  of  America,  honoured 
with  the  friendship  and  favour  of  Congress,  I  cannot,  from  my 
own  authority  or  inclination,  serve  either  myself  or  even  my 
best  friends,  in  any  private  line  whatever  ;  unless  where  the 
honour  and  interest  of  America  is  the  premier  object. 

"  Although  the  minister  has  treated  me  like  a  child  five  suc- 
cessive times,  by  leading  me  on  from  great  to  little,  and  from 
little  to  less,  yet  I  had  some  dependance  on  his  honourable 
intentions  until  he  refused  the  small  command  which  you  asked 
for  me  the  23d  ultimo,  and  afterwards  bestowed  the  Fox  on  a 
lieutenant  who,  to  my  certain  knowledge,  does  not  thank  him 
for  the  favour,  and  thinks  that  ship  far  short  of  his  right.  I 
say  I  verily  believed  the  minister  at  the  beginning,  and  after- 


*  This  name  is  elsewhere  copied  from  some  letters  "  Mr.  Chaumont." 


PAUL   JONES.  137 

wards  ;  but  now  having  deceived  me  so  often,  I  wish  him  to 
know  that  I  doubt  him,  though  he  swears  even  '  by  the  Styx.'  I 
have  written  to  him  several  respectful  letters  of  some  conse- 
quence, none  of  which  he  has  condescended  to  answer.  This 
is  a  piece  of  incivility  and  disrespect  to  me  as  a  stranger,  which 
he  has  not  shown  even  to  subalterns  in  the  French  marine,  in 
whose  hands  I  have  seen  his  answers  to  letters  of  little  impor- 
tance. The  secrecy  which  I  was  required  to  observe  respecting 
what  seemed  his  first  intention  in  my  favour,  has  been  inviolable ; 
and  I  have  been  so  delicate  with  respect  to  my  situation,  that  I 
kave  been,  and  am  considered  every  where  as  an  officer  dis- 
graced and  cast  off  for  private  reasons.  I  have  of  course  been 
in  actual  disgrace  here  ever  since  my  return,  which  is  more 
than  two  months.  I  have  already  lost  near  five  months  of  my 
time,  the  best  season  of  the  year,  and  such  opportunities  of 
serving  my  country,  and  acquiring  honour,  as  I  cannot  again 
expect  this  war,  while  I  have  been  thus  shamefully  entrapped  in 
inaction.  My  duty  and  sensibility  cannot  brook  this  unworthy 
situation.  If  the  minister's  intentions  have  been  honourable 
from  the  beginning,  he  will  make  a  direct  written  apology  to 
me,  suitable  to  the  injury  which  I  have  sustained,  otherwise,  in 
vindication  of  my  sacred  honour,  painful  as  it  will  be,  I  must 
publish  in  the  Gazettes  of  Europe  the  conduct  he  has  held 
towards  me. 

"  1  offered  some  time  ago  to  accept  of  the  Fox  with  the 
Alert ;  because  both  the  bottoms  are  sheathed  with  copper,  and 
because  I  wished  to  put  the  minister  to  no  inconvenience,  and 
had  a  project  in  view,  which  I  thought  I  could  execute  with 
that  small  force.  He  has  denied  the  application  ;  therefore,  I 
will  make  no  other  request. 

"  As  he  invited  me  to  stay  in  Europe,  by  the  laws  of  hospi- 
tality it  is  his  duty  to  offer.  And  if  he  does  not  give  me  the 
command  he  at  first  proposed,  (the  Indien)  he  cannot  in  honour 
now  offer  me  less  than  an  equivalent  force.  I  will  accept  of 
nothing  that  sails  slow,  or  is  of  trifling  force.  I  shall  expect  a 
yes  or  no  to  this  immediately  ;  and  it  will  afford  me  the  truest 

17 


138  PAUL   JONES. 

satisfaction  if  my  honour  is  made  whole,  and  the  misunder- 
standing is  happily  removed.  The  Prince  de  Nassau  has  been 
uncivil,  in  not  answering  my  letters.  The  generous  part  you 
have  taken  in  my  affairs,  claims  my  most  grateful  thanks." 

On  the  12th,  M.  de  Sartine  replied  to  the  request  of  the 
commissioners,  that  a  ship  might  be  furnished  to  transport 
Captain  Jones  to  America,  that  the  king  was  willing  to  grant 
such  facility  ;  but  that  it  would  be  previously  necessary  for  him 
to  know  whether  it  would  be  possible  to  procure  an  American 
crew  ;  as  the  number  and  wants  of  the  French  ships  would  not 
allow  any  of  their  sailors  to  be  detached.  It  would  seem  from 
this  that  the  minister  felt  at  the  moment  tired  of  even  making 
promises. 

At  length  Jones  determined,  as  a  last  resort,  to  address  the 
king  in  person.  The  following  were  the  terms  in  which  he 
wrote. 

"  Brest,  October  19th,  1778. 

"  SIRE — After  my  return  to  Brest  in  the  American  ship  of 
war  the  Ranger,  from  the  Irish  Channel,  his  excellency  Dr. 
Franklin  informed  me  by  letter,  dated  June  the  1st,  that  M.  de 
Sartine,  having  a  high  opinion  of  my  conduct  and  bravery,  had 
determined,  with  your  Majesty's  consent  and  approbation,  to 
give  me  the  command  of  the  ship  of  war  the  Indien,  which  was 
built  at  Amsterdam  for  America,  but  afterwards,  for  political 
reasons,  made  the  property  of  France. 

"  I  was  to  act  with  unlimited  orders,  under  the  commission 
and  flag  of  America  ;  and  the  Prince  de  Nassau  proposed  to 
accompany  me  on  the  ocean. 

"  I  was  deeply  penetrated  with  the  sense  of  the  honour  done 
me  by  this  generous  proposition,  as  well  as  of  the  favour  your 
Majesty  intended  thereby  to  confer  on  America.  And  I  accepted 
the  offer  with  the  greater  pleasure,  as  the  Congress  had  sent 
me  to  Europe  in  the  Ranger,  to  command  the  Indien  before 
the  ownership  of  that  vessel  was  changed. 

The  minister  desired  to  see  me  at  Versailles  to  settle  future 


PAUL  JONES.  139 

plans  of  operation,  and  1  attended  him  for  that  purpose.  I  was 
told  that  the  Indien  was  at  the  Texel,  completely  armed  and 
fitted  for  sea  ;  but  the  Prince  de  Nassau  was  sent  express  to 
Holland,  and  returned  with  a  very  different  account.  The  ship 
was  at  Amsterdam,  and  could  not  be  got  afloat  or  armed  before 
the  September  equinox.  The  American  plenipotentiaries  pro- 
posed that  I  should  return  to  America  ;  and  as  I  have  repeatedly 
been  appointed  to  the  chief  command  of  an  American  squadron 
to  execute  secret  enterprises,  it  was  not  doubted  but  that  Con- 
gress would  again  show  me  a  preference.  M.  de  Sartine,  how- 
ever, thought  proper  to  prevent  my  departure,  by  writing  to  the 
plenipotentiaries,  (without  my  knowledge,)  requesting  that  I 
might  be  permitted  to  remain  in  Europe,  and  that  the  Ranger 
might  be  sent  back  to  America  under  another  commander,  he 
having  special  services  which  he  wished  me  to  execute.  This 
request  they  readily  granted,  and  I  was  flattered  by  the  prospect 
of  being  enabled  to  testify,  by  my  services,  my  gratitude  to  your 
Majesty,  as  the  first  prince  who  has  so  generously  acknowledged 
our  independence. 

"  There  was  an  interval  of  more  than  three  months  before  the 
Indien  could  be  gotten  afloat.  To  employ  that  period  usefully, 
when  your  Majesty's  fleet  was  ordered  to  sail  from  Brest,  I  pro- 
posed to  the  minister  to  embark  in  it  as  a  volunteer,  in  pursuit  of 
marine  knowledge.  He  objected  to  this,  and  at  the  same  time 
approved  of  a  variety  of  hints  for  private  enterprises,  which  I 
had  drawn  up  for  his  consideration.  Two  gentlemen  were  ap- 
pointed to  settle  with  me  the  plans  that  were  to  be  adopted, 
who  gave  me  the  assurance  that  three  of  the  best  frigates  in 
France,  with  two  tenders,  and  a  number  of  troops,  should  be 
immediately  put  under  my  command,  to  pursue  such  of  my  own 
projects  as  I  thought  proper  ;  but  this  fell  to  nothing,  when  I 
believed  that  your  majesty's  signature  only  was  wanting. 

"  Another  armament,  composed  of  cutters  and  small  vessels, 
at  L'Orient,  was  proposed  to  be  put  under  my  command,  to 
alarm  the  coasts  of  England  and  check  the  Jersey  privateers  ; 
but,  happily  for  me,  this  also  failed,  and  I  was  saved  from  ruin 


140  PAUL   JONES. 

and  dishonour,  as  I  now  find  that  all  the  vessels  sailed  slow, 
and  their  united  force  is  very  insignificant.  The  minister  then 
thought  fit  that  I  should  return  to  Brest  to  command  the  Lively, 
and  join  some  frigates  on  an  expedition  from  St.  Malo  to  the 
North  Sea.  I  returned  in  haste  for  that  purpose,  and  found  that 
the  Lively  had  been  bestowed  at  Brest  before  the  minister  had 
mentioned  that  ship  to  me  at  Versailles.  This  was,  however, 
another  fortunate  disappointment,  as  the  Lively  proves,  both  in 
sailing  and  equipment,  much  inferior  to  the  Ranger  ;  but,  more 
especially,  if  it  be  true,  as  I  have  since  understood,  that  the 
minister  intended  to  give  the  chief  command  of  the  expedition 
to  a  lieutenant,  which  would  have  occasioned  a  very  disagreeable 
misunderstanding  :  for,  as  an  officer  of  the  first  rank  in  the 
American  marine,  who  has  ever  been  honoured  with  the  favour 
and  friendship  of  Congress,  I  can  receive  orders  from  no  inferior 
officer  whatever.  My  plan  was  the  destruction  of  the  English 
Baltic  fleet,  of  great  consequence  to  the  enemy's  marine,  and 
then  only  protected  by  a  single  frigate  !  I  would  have  held  my- 
self responsible  for  its  success,  had  I  commanded  the  expedition. 

"  M.  de  Sartine  afterwards  sent  orders  to  Count  D'Orvilliers 
to  receive  me  on  board  the  fleet,  agreeably  to  my  former  pro- 
posal ;  but  the  order  did  not  arrive  until  after  the  departure  of 
the  fleet  the  last  time  from  Brest,  nor  was  I  made  acquainted 
with  the  circumstance  before  the  fleet  returned  here. 

"  Thus  have  I  been  chained  down  to  shameful  inactivity  for 
nearly  five  months.  I  have  lost  the  best  season  of  the  year, 
and  such  opportunities  of  serving  my  country  and  acquiring 
honour,  as  I  cannot  again  expect  this  war ;  and,  to  my  infi- 
nite mortification,  having  no  command,  I  am  considered  every 
where  an  officer  cast  off  and  in  disgrace  for  secret  reasons. 

"  I  have  written  respectful  letters  to  the  minister,  none  of 
which  he  has  condescended  to  answer ;  I  have  written  to  the 
Prince  de  Nassau  with  as  little  effect ;  and  I  do  not  understand 
that  any  apology  has  been  made  to  the  great  and  venerable  Dr. 
Franklin,  whom  the  minister  has  made  the  instrument  of  bring- 
ing me  into  such  unmerited  trouble. 


PAUL   JONES.  141 

"  Having  written  to  Congress  to  reserve  no  command  for  me 
in  America,  my  sensibility  is  the  more  affected  by  this  unworthy 
situation  in  the  sight  of  your  majesty's  fleet.  I,  however,  make 
no  remark  on  the  treatment  I  have  received. 

"  Although  I  wish  not  to  become  my  own  panegyrist,  I  must 
beg  your  majesty's  permission  to  observe,  that  I  am  not  an 
adventurer  in  search  of  fortune,  of  which,  thank  God,  I  have 
a  sufficiency. 

"  When  the  American  banner  was  first  displayed,  I  drew  my 
sword  in  support  of  the  violated  dignity  and  rights  of  human 
nature ;  and  both  honour  and  duty  prompt  me  steadfastly  to 
continue  the  righteous  pursuit,  and  to  sacrifice  to  it,  not  only 
my  private  enjoyments,  but  even  life,  if  necessary.  I  must  ac- 
knowledge that  the  generous  praise  which  I  have  received  from 
Congress  and  others  exceeds  the  merit  of  my  past  services ; 
therefore  I  the  more  ardently  wish  for  future  opportunities  of 
testifying  my  gratitude  by  my  activity. 

"  As  your  majesty,  by  espousing  the  cause  of  America,  hath 
become  the  protector  of  the  rights  of  human  nature,  I  am  per- 
suaded that  you  will  not  disregard  my  situation,  nor  suffer  me 
to  remain  any  longer  in  this  insupportable  disgrace. 

"  I  am,  with  perfect  gratitude  and  profound  respect,  Sire, 
your  majesty's  very  obliged,  very  obedient,  and  very  humble 
servant, 

"  J.  PAUL  JONES." 

In  a  letter  of  the  same  date,  Jones  solicited  the  Duchess  of 
Chartres  to  present  the  foregoing  representation  to  his  majesty. 
He  also  wrote  to  Franklin,  enclosing  it  for  his  inspection,  a  wise 
precaution  which  he  adopted  in  all  cases  of  a  similar  nature. 
One  of  the  principal  sources  of  his  vexation  was  the  supposition 
which  he  believed  to  be  current,  that  he  had  incurred  the  dis- 
pleasure of  his  venerated  "  guide,  philosopher,  and  friend,"  now 
the  minister  plenipotentiary  at  the  court  of  Versailles.  This 
rumour  he  often  mentions  as  the  climax  of  his  embarassments. 
There  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  the  letter  to  the  king  was 


142  PAUL   JONES. 

ever  delivered.  Mr.  William  Franklin,  in  the  postscript  to  a 
letter  of  the  22d  October,  said  :  "  I  would  willingly  do  every 
thing  you  desire  of  me ;  but  it  is  my  grandfather's  opinion,  that 
there  will  be  no  occasion  to  send  those  letters ;  and  I  imagine 
they  were  written  before  you  heard  of  the  minister's  final 
determination.  If,  however,  you  still  think  they  ought  to  be 
sent,  you  have  only  to  order  it."  The  letters  referred  to,  were 
those  to  the  king  and  the  Dutchess  of  Chartres  ;  and  this  new 
"  final  determination"  of  the  minister,  thus  communicated,  was 
of  a  nature  to  render  their  delivery  unnecessary.  In  the  letter 
of  which  the  postscript  has  been  cited,  Mr.  Franklin  informed 
Jones,  that  his  appeal  to  Mr.  Chaumont  had  had  a  good  effect ; 
and  that  the  latter  was  charged  to  put  the  minister's  design  in 
immediate  execution.  This  was,  as  we  gather  from  the  sub- 
sequent correspondence,  to  purchase  the  best  ship  that  could  be 
procured  for  Jones,  and  get  it  in  immediate  readiness  for  sailing. 

The  name  of  M.  Le  Ray  de  Chaumont  has  been  already 
several  times  mentioned,  and  as  it  will  frequently  occur  again, 
coupled  with  commentaries,  which  misapprehension  and  haste 
prematurely  elicited  from  Jones,  it  may  not  be  amiss  here  to 
anticipate  several  remarks,  which  would  otherwise  be  more 
frequently  necessary.  It  is  not  expedient,  and  indeed  it  would 
be  improper,  in  a  mere  compilation  of  this  nature,  to  draw  in- 
ferences affecting  the  character  of  persons  who  are  dead.  Pal- 
pably false  impressions,  however,  as  to  prominent  individuals, 
should  not  be  suffered  to  obtain  circulation,  without  being  rec- 
tified. 

M.  Le  Ray  de  Chaumont  had  held  two  of  the  most  honoura- 
ble employments  under  the  French  monarchy,*  previous  to  the 
declaration  of  American  independence.  On  relinquishing  them, 
he  was  authorized  to  retain  the  honorary  titles,  with  a  handsome 
pension  during  life.  A  more  important  employment  was  at  the 
same  time  offered  him  by  the  government,  which  would  have 


Grand  m  litre  des  Eaux  et  Fftrets  de  France,  and  Intendant  des  Invalides. 


PAUL   JONES.  143 

connected  him  with  the  party  in  the  king's  council,  opposed  to 
rendering  assistance  to  the  Americans,  in  their  struggle  for  inde- 
pendence. He  was  warmly  (and  from  the  nature  of  his  situation, 
must  have  been  disinterestedly)  attached  to  the  cause  of  liberty 
and  of  America.  This  he  wisely  saw  he  could  best  serve  in  a 
private  capacity,  as  France  was  not  yet  prepared  to  take  an 
open  and  decided  part  in  the  controversy.  His  large  fortune, 
extensive  credit,  and  his  connexions  and  influence  with  those 
of  the  ministers  who  were  inclined  to  lend  aid  to  the  colo- 
nies, enabled  him  to  render  peculiar  and  efficient  assistance  to 
the  commissioners,  and  American  agents  in  France.  When  no 
visible  means  of  repayment  were  presented,  he  furnished  a  large 
quantity  of  powder  and  military  stores  in  1776,  for  the  use  of 
America,  asking  for  reimbursement  when  the  United  States 
should  be  recognized  as  a  free  empire,  and  not  before.  While 
the  commissioners  were  in  the  equivocal  situation,  in  which  they 
were  permitted  to  correspond  with  the  government  without  being 
officially  recognized,  he  abandoned  to  their  use,  or  rather  cour- 
teously prevailed  upon  them  to  occupy  his  splendidly  furnished 
houses.  In  the  autumn  of  1778,  Mr.  John  Adams  felt  that  the 
acceptance  of  such  civilities  might  give  cause  for  censure  on  his 
government,  if  they  were 'gratuitously  accepted;  and  from  his 
government  if  they  were  paid  for,  even  on  the  most  vulgar  arid 
economical  principles  of  calculation.  M.  Le  Ray,  however, 
rejected  the  idea  of  compensation  ;  and  his  wealth  at  the  time 
placed  his  motives,  as  well  as  his  wisdom,  beyond  suspicion.  He 
was  able  to  afford  it ;  and  did  not  feel  it  as  a  sacrifice.  The 
secret  treaty  did  not  place  the  commissioners  in  a  better  attitude 
for  asking  open  favours  ;  and  even  after  the  treaties  of  alliance 
had  been  interchanged,  Franklin  been  subsequently  recognised 
as  minister  plenipotentiary,  and  war  openly  declared  between 
France  and  England,  the  particular  enterprises  which  Jones 
most  coveted,  and  which  he  was  most  competent  to  execute, 
were  different  in  their  character  from  those  which  France  con- 
templated. He  sought  to  retaliate  for  measures  of  oppression 
and  cruelty,  for  villages  burnt,  and  prisoners  languishing  in  dun- 


144  PAUL  JONES. 

geons,  which  civilized  tactics  had  not  allowed  England  to  prac- 
tise upon  the  new  ally  of  the  United  States.  While  France, 
therefore,  was  to  furnish  the  means,  America  was  to  furnish 
the  flag.  In  such  a  juncture,  a  citizen  holding  no  official  sta- 
tion, of  great  wealth  and  influence,  and  enjoying  the  confidence 
of  both  the  American  and  French  governments,  was  precisely 
wanted  both  as  mediator  and  director,  to  make  arrangements 
for  such  desultory  expeditions  as  might  be  projected,  until  the 
ships  had  left  the  ports  of  France,  under  the  stars  and  stripes, 
with  Retribution  for  their  motto.  In  concert  with  his  illustrious 
friend  M.  de  la  Fayette,  M.  Chaumont  undertook  this  nice  bu- 
siness ;  and  the  testimony  of  those  to  whose  memory  this  repub- 
lic now  pays  universal  and  unqualified  honour,  is  that  he  was 
faithful  to  the  last  in  performing  what  he  had  voluntarily  and 
gratuitously  undertaken.* 

Such  was  the  friend  whose  active  intercession  obtained  this 
"  final"  promise  from  the  minister  ;  which,  like  the  others,  was 


*  See  Appendix,  No.  VII.  where  several  documents  are  cited.  In  the  correspon- 
dence of  Silas  Deane,  (Diplomatic  Correspondence,  I.  146,)  the  following  pithy  para- 
graph occurs,  in  relation  to  M.  Chaumont  and  Mr.  Arthur  Lee.  The  latter  gentleman 
gave  great  annoyance  to  Jones ;  and,  whatever  hie  motives  may  have  been,  the  cap- 
tain does  not  seem  to  need  an  apology  for  expressing  his  sense  of  it,  as  he  does  in 
several  of  the  passages  which  will  be  subsequently  introduced. 

"  It  is  not  enough  to  say,  that  no  man  in  France  enjoys  a  better  character  for  strict 
honour  and  probity,  both  at  court,  and  in  the  city,  than  Mons.  Chanmont.  Justice 
must  add,  there  is  no  man  enjoys  it  perhaps  so  universally  through  the  kingdom,  among 
the  merchants,  the  farmers  or  husbandmen,  and  mechanics,  in  all  which  branches  of 
business,  he  is  constantly  speculating.  This  man  is  the  friend  of  Dr.  Franklin.  I 
have  the  pleasure  of  knowing  him  to  be  mine,  and  what  is  more,  the  friend  of  my 
country,  on  all  and  in  the  most  trying  occasions.  I  do  not  wonder  that  Mr.  Lee  should 
appear  jealous  of  this  gentleman,  as  well  as  of  every  body  else,  a  select  few  excepted ; 
and  very  few,  indeed,  are  those  who  escape  his  jealous  suspicions,  either  in  Europe  or 
America.  It  is  a  melancholy  truth,  but  justice  to  the  public  requires  my  declaring  it, 
that  I  never  knew  Mr.  Lee,  from  his  first  coming  to  Paris,  satisfied  with  any  one  per- 
son he  did  business  with,  whether  of  a  public  or  a  private  nature  ;  and  his  dealings, 
whether  for  trifles  or  for  things  of  importance,  almost  constantly  ended  in  a  dispute, 
sometimes  in  litigious  quarrels.  Mr.  Lee  lived  some  time  in  M.  Chaumont's  house. 
M.  Chaumont  knew  him  perfectly  well,  and  was  not  reserved  in  speaking  his  opinion 
of  him." 


PAUL   JONES.  145 

never  performed,  but  which  led  eventually  to  Jones'  obtaining 
command  of  a  ship,  such  as  it  was,  in  which  he  fought  one  of 
the  most  desperate  naval  battles  on  record.  In  a  letter  of  his 
which  we  have  already  quoted  from,  he  expresses  his  gratitude 
for  the  hospitality  and  services  of  M.  Le  Ray ;  and  the  same 
tore  pervades  his  correspondence,  until  the  unfortunate  misun- 
derstanding which  led  him  to  use  harsher  language  than  his 
cooler  judgment  approved ;  and  for  which,  it  may  be  added  to 
his  great  credit,  he  afterwards  frankly  made  the  amende 
honorable. 

The  necessity  of  condensation  compel^  the  omission  of  several 
letters  written  at  this  period ;  as  they  are  not  indispensable.  Long 
months  were  yet  to  elapse,  before  Jones  found  himself  actually 
at  «ea,  with  an  "  independent  command."  He  still  urged  the 
reservation  of  the  Indien  for  himself;  which  ship,  he  had  been 
assured  by  "an  American  gentleman  of  sense,  might  at  any 
spring  tide  be  got  to  the  Texel,  with  the  assistance  of  a  camel, 
and  there  armed  in  a  fortnight,  without  any  opposition  from  the 
states."  In  pursuance  of  M.  Chaumont's  request,  he  was,  how- 
ever, earnestly  engaged  in  making  inquiries  for  a  suitable  and 
fast  sailing  ship.  He  intimated  to  that  gentleman,  that  he  had 
not  only  the  pride  of  the  French  marine  to  conciliate,  but  that 
he  "  had  excited  the  jealousy  of  many  officers  in  our  own  young 
navy,  because  he  had  pursued  honour,  while  they  had  sought 
after  profit."  Some  expressions  of  his  in  this  communication, 
it  may  be  pertinent  to  record.  He  says :  "  Your  letter  has 
given  me  great  pleasure,  the  more  so  as  it  leads  me  to  connect 
myself  more  immediately  with  yourself."  "  Not  to  love  your- 
self, and  those  persons  whose  names  you  have  mentioned  in 
the  latter  part  of  your  letter,  would  be  base ;  and  my  heart 
tells  me  that  I  shall  never  be  capable  of  such  ingratitude." 
He  wrote  in  the  middle  of  November,  to  Mr.  Robert  Morris, 
informing  him  of  his  situation,  and  assigning  probably  the  true 
reasons  for  the  procrastination  of  the  minister  ;  that  the  rules 
of  the  French  service  did  not  admit  of  giving  him  the  command 
of  ships  detached  from  the  royal  marine ;  and  that  the  French 

18 


146  PAUL   JONES. 

officers,  as  he  expresses  it  with  somewhat  of  morbid  bitterness 
of  feeling,  "  could  not  look  at  him  in  Brest,  but  with  rival  eyes. 
The  minister  cannot  and  dares  not  do  what  he  wishes."  Being 
"  an  eyesore  to  the  marine,"  as  he  phrases  it  in  a  letter  to  W. 
Franklin,  he  was  desirous  of  leaving  Brest.  He  examined, 
and  unqualifiedly  rejected  an  armed  -prize  ship  called  the  Nep- 
tune, represented  as  a  fine  frigate  of  32  guns.  "  I  wish,"  he 
wrote  to  M.  Chaumont,  to  have  no  connexion  with  any  ship 
that  does  not  sail  fast ;  for  I  intend  to  go  in  harm's  way.  You 
know,  I  believe,  that  this  is  not  every  one's  intention.  There- 
fore, buy  a  frigate  thaVsails  fast,  and  that  is  sufficiently  large 
to  carry  26  or  28  guns,  (not  less  than  twelve-pounders,)  on  one 
deck.  I  would  rather  be  shot  ashore,  than  sent  to  sea  in  such 
things  as  the  armed  prizes  I  have  described."  In  the  same 
letter,  he  suggested  that  Americans  might  be  found  among  the 
English  prisoners,  who  would  serve  under  him  if  assured  as  to 
the  time  and  manner  of  receiving  their  wages,  and  share  of 
prize  money  ;  and  expressed  his  wish  that  neither  the  admiralty 
nor  the  existing  American  agents  might  have  any  thing  to  do 
with  the  prizes.  He  adds  :  "  I  have  almost  half  killed  myself 
with  grief.  Give  me  but  an  assurance  that  the  command  of  the 
Indien  will  be  reserved  for  me,  and  bestowed  on  no  other  person, 
on  any  pretence  whatsoever,  and  I  will  say  I  am  satisfied.  This, 
I  pledge  myself,  will  be  no  loss  to  France.  America  is  not 
ungrateful.  The  noble  minded  Congress  know  not  the  little 
mean  distinctions  of  climate  or  place  of  nativity  ;  nor  have  they 
adopted  any  rule,  which  can  preclude  them  from  encouraging 
or  rewarding  the  merit  of  a  stranger,  by  raising  him  even  to  the 
first  posts  of  honour.  In  the  army,  there  are  many  instances 
of  this.  In  the  navy,  young  as  it  is,  it  gives  me  particular 
pleasure  to  inform  you,  that  Congress  have  given  the  command 
of  the  best  ship  in  their  service  to  a  French  officer,  and  called 
the  ship  the  Alliance."  At  this  time,  M.  Chaumont  intimated 
to  him,  that  the  Duras,  an  old  Indiaman,  that  had  made  three 
voyages,  was  for  sale ;  and  he  expressed  his  willingness  to  accept 
that  ship,  with  a  good  tender,  provided  she  sailed  fast 


PAUL   JONES.  14? 

Mr.  Arthur  Lee  at  this  period  regaled  him  with  an  inquiry 
about  one  of  the  Ranger's  old  prizes,  of  little  value,  which  had 
been  sold  a  year  before  at  Nantes,  and  the  captors'  moiety  paid 
according  to  Mr.  Lee's  own  directions.  The  answer  of  Jones 
was  respectful  and  caustic.  He  took  occasion  to  remind  the 
commissioner  of  his  having  concurred  in  the  dishonour  of  his 
draft,  without  communicating  the  knowledge  in  his  possession 
to  his  colleagues,  which  led  to  his  own  seeming  disgrace,  and  to 
the  misery  of  his  crew.  "  These  poor  men,"  he  says,  "  were  at 
last  dragged  away"  (into  the  Ranger,  when  she  left  France 
under  Simpson,)  "  without  clothing ;  having  only  received  at 
Brest  8  or  9  crowns  each,  as  prize  money,  at  the  moment  of 
their  departure ;  and  not  being  allowed  to  lay  out  even  that 
trifle.  Those  who  saw  them  last  reported  that  they  kept  below, 
refusing  duty,  and  imprecating  general  curses  on  the  public 
service,  the  public  agents,  and  all  concerned."  This  statement 
is  collaterally  confirmed.  It  is  to  be  observed,  that  Mr.  A.  Lee 
is  no  where  charged  with  cupidity ;  but  with  painful  uneasiness 
and  useless  officiousness,  in  the  course  of  his  dealings  in  relation 
to  the  matter  of  the  prizes. 

At  this  time,  also,  several  offers  were  made  to  Jones  to  take 
command  of  privateering  expeditions.  Among  others,  M. 
Montieu  of  Nantes,  who  had  purchased  a  new  ship  on  which 
Jones  had  had  his  eye,  offered  him  the  command  of  an 
armament  for  such  purposes.  In  replying  through  his  friend 
Mr.  Williams,  Jones  says  :  "  Were  I  in  pursuit  of  profit,  I  should 
accept  the  offer  without  hesitation.  But  I  am  under  such  obli- 
gations to  (Congress,  that  I  cannot  think  myself  my  own  master ; 
and  as  servant  of  the  imperial  republic  of  America,  honoured 
with  the  public  approbation  of  my  past  services,  I  cannot,  from 
my  own  authority  or  inclination,  serve  either  myself  or  even  my 
best  friends  in  any  private  line  whatsoever,  unless  where  the 
honour  and  interest  of  America  is  the  premier  object."*  On  the 

*  This  sentence  which  Mr.  Williams  was  to  communicate  to  Mr.  Montieu,  is  evi- 
dently elaborated,  and  is  identical  with  one  written  to  M.  Chaumontfive  weeks  before, 
provi.rosly  cited. 

* 


148  PAUL  JONES. 

30th  November,  he  wrote  to  M.  Chaumont,  that  by  waiting 
until  that  time  for  orders  or  powers,  he  had  lost  the  opportunity 
of  purchasing  a  suitable  ship,  and  was  in  great  danger  of  losing 
a  number  of  American  seamen ;  and  that  he  was  about  to  pro- 
ceed to  L'Orient  on  his  own  responsibility,  unless  otherwise 
directed  by  the  next  post.  "  If  we  can  do  no  better,  I  hope  the 
Puras  will  answer."  "  I  repeat  to  you,  that  if  the  Alert  were 
now  at  my  disposal,  I  could  engage  a  number  of  American  sea- 
men, from  a  privateer  that  still  remains  here."  "  My  best 
respects  and  most  grateful  thanks  await  the  minister,  for  the 
very  honourable  things  which  he  said  of  me  to  the  Due  de  la 
Rochefoucault.  It  shall  be  my  ambition,  when  he  gives  me 
opportunities,  to  merit  his  favour  and  affection." 

From  L'Orient  he  wrote  to  the  commissioners  on  December 
9th,  enclosing  the  memorial  of  the  prisoners  confined  there  on 
board  the  Patience.  They  were  originally  two  hundred  in 
number,  but  one  hundred  and  thirty-one  alone  remained,  and  it 
was  to  be  inferred  that  the  others  had  been  suffered  to  escape 
Their  condition  was  a  melancholy  one.  The  remarks  Jones 
made  on  Riou,  who  was  entrusted  with  their  custody,  have  been 
previously  quoted.  The  prisoners  had  full  confidence  in  Father 
John,  the  chaplain  of  the  Due  D'Orvilliers,  and  begged  for  an 
answer  through  him.  The  memorial,  signed  by  the  officers  of 
the  Drake,  represented,  no  doubt  too  truly,  the  miseries  they 
had  endured  in  their  close  confinement,  at  a  distance  from  the 
shore,  for  seven  months.  In  January  following,  M.  Sartinc 
granted  an  order  for  the  release  of  such  Ameiijcans  as  would 
enrol  under  Jones. 

For  nearly  two  months,  a  singular  gap  in  his  indefatigable 
correspondence,  we  find  no  letters  to  or  from  Jones  preserved 
among  the  originals  or  copies  of  his  papers.  His  Journal 
for  the  king  supplies  the  vacuum.  "  None  of  the  ships  at 
L'Orient  appeared  very  suitable  for  the  purpose,  except  one, 
the  '  Marshal  de  Broglio,'  a  fine  ship,  bought  soon  afterwards 
by  the  king,  and  fitted  for  war  with  64  guns.  As  nothing  was 
done,  Captain  Jones  determined  to  go  himself  to  court,  to  know 


PAUL  JONES.  149 

why  he  was  detained  idle  in  Europe.  The  minister  preyed  him 
to  accept  the  command  of  the  Marshal  de  Broglio  ;  but  Captain 
Jones  was  obliged  to  decline  it,  as  he  saw  no  means  to  procure 
a  crew  of  Americans  sufficient  for  that  ship.  The  king  then 
bought  the  Due  de  Duras,  a  much  smaller  ship,  of  fourteen 
years  old.  This  ship  was  given  to  Captain  Jones  ;  and  at  his 
request  called  Le  Bon  Homme  Richard,  in  compliment  to  a 
saying  of  Poor  Richard ;  "  If  you  would  have  your  business 
done,  come  yourself ;  if  not,  send."  The  official  intimation  of 
this  appointment  was  not  given  by  M.  de  Sartine  until  the  4th 
February,  who  informed  Jones  that  he  was  about  to  give  orders 
for  completely  fitting  and  victualling  the  Duras ;  that  Jones  was 
to  hoist  the  flag  of  the  United  States,  under  the  commission  he 
had  received  from  Congress  when  he  left  America,  and  to  use 
his  powers  to  form  a  ship's  company  of  American  volunteers. 
But  he  also  informed  him,  that  it  was  the  king's  pleasure 
that  he  should  raise  volunteers  to  make  up  the  necessary  number 
of  his  crew.  As  to  his  operations  at  sea,  the  minister  in  fact 
gave  him  ifertc  blanche,  asking  only  for  an  account  of  his  pro- 
ceedings, whenever  he  should  enter  a  port  within  the  king's 
dominions.  He  assented  to  the  ship's  changing  her  name,  in 
compliance  with  the  request  of  Jones.  The  letter  was  delivered 
to  the  latter  by  M.  Gamier,  who  had  recently  been  named 
ambassador  to  the  United  States,  and  assisted  Jones  efficiently 
with  his  counsel  and  good  offices.  Jones  made  his  acknowledg- 
ments warmly,  and  in  his  best  style,  for  the  first  actual  favour 
he  had  received ;  and  a  prospect  of  action  opened  before  him, 
which  at  first  expanded  into  one  of  consequence  and  dignity. 
It  dwindled,  however,  again  upon  this  view ;  the  result  was 
destined  to  be  achieved  by  his  own  energy  ;  and  the  glory  that 
accompanied  it  was  left  to  him  without  a  co-rival. 

"  M.  Gamier  was  appointed  by  the  court  to  arrange  a  plan 
for  the  armament.  Four  or  five  sail  was  to  be  added  to  the 
Bon  Homme  Richard,  two  of  them  to  be  fire-ships.  Five  hun- 
dred chosen  troops  were  to  embark,  from  one  of  the  Irish 
regiments,  under  the  command  of  the  Chevalier  de  Fitz 


150  PAUL    JOJVES. 

Maurice,  who  was  to  be  entirely  under  the  command  of  Captain 
Jones.  A  plan  was  laid  between  M.  Gamier  and  Captain  Jones 
which  promised  perfect  success ;  and  had  it  succeeded,  would 
have  astonished  the  world."* 

Jones  proceeded  forthwith  to  Nantes  to  engage  seamen,  seve- 
ral of  whom  he  enlisted  at  that  place ;  the  Americans,  as  he 
says,  being  generally  pleased  with  the  character  of  the  "  poor 
Richard."  The  ship  was  calculated  to  mount  only  one  battery 
of  eighteen  pounders,  and  he  found  some  difficulty  in  procuring 
suitable  ordnance  to  be  cast.  Writing  to  Mr.  Gamier  from 
Nantes,  he  urged,  that  as  the  new  American  frigate,  the  Alliance, 
which  had  been  put  under  the  command  of  a  French  officer, 
was  then  at  Brest,  it  would  be  a  useful  addition  to  the  force 
which  was  to  sail  under  him.  Understanding  that  La  Fayette 
had  brought  out  the  credentials  of  Franklin  as  ambassador,  and 
that  the  Alliance  would  in  consequence  be  under  his  control,  he 
suggested  that  an  application  should  be  made  to  this  effect.  He 
little  anticipated  how  much  trouble  such  a  request  was  to  entail 
upon  him,  which  was  more  readily  granted  than  any  he  had 
previously  made. 

From  Nantes  he  went  to  L'Orient,  whence  he  wrote  that 
finding  the  necessary  cannon  could  be  made  at  Bordeaux,  he 
should  repair  there  immediately;  that  he  had  procured  seve- 
ral seamen  at  Brest  and  Nantes,  and  many  valuable  men  for 
officers ;  that  volunteer  soldiers  enlisted  with  him  daily,  to 
serve  during  the  war,  and  that  he  had  accepted  the  offer  of 
a  captain  in  the  American  army  to  command  them.  After 
passing  several  times  between  Bordeaux  and  Angouleme,  before 
the  contract  for  casting  the  cannon  was  completed,  he  received 
on  his  return  to  L'Orient,  an  express  summoning  him  to  court. 
The  Marquis  de  la  Fayette  had  expressed  a  wish  to  join  with 
him  in  an  expedition,  and  command  a  body  of  select  troops 
assigned  to  him  by  the  king  for  that  purpose.  Franklin,  at  the 


Journal  for  the  king.    The  plan  was  to  attack  Liverpool. 


PAUL   JONES.  151 

request  of  the  French  government,  made  the  Alliance  a  part  of 
the  force,  which  now  began  to  assume  the  appearance  of  an 
armament  with  which  much  might  be  effected.  It  was  to  con- 
sist of  the  Bon  Homme  Richard,  the  Alliance,  Pallas,  Vengeance 
brig,  and  Cerf,  a  remarkably  fine  cutter. 

On  his  return  to  L'Orient,  he  found  that  two-thirds  of  the 
men  sent  as  American  volunteers  from  Nantes,  were,  as  he 
describes  them,  "  unfit  to  bear  arms,"  a  "  set  of  dirty  beings," 
who  were  to  be  sent  to  their  homes  at  an  additional  expense. 
The  rest  were  English  prisoners,  whose  names  he  had  blotted 
out  of  the  list  previously,  because,  during  his  absence  at  Bor- 
deaux, they  had  enlisted  to  serve  in  a  privateer.  He  rated  very 
soundly  the  officer,  (Mr.  Thompson,)  under  whose  auspices  these 
apologies  for  soldiers  were  forwarded  for  his  use. 

On  the  27th  April,  Franklin  addressed  to  him  the  following 
letter,  under  the  impression  that  La  Fayette  would  co-operate 
with  him.  It  would  be  improper  to  omit  it  here,  though  it  is 
found  in  other  collections.  Jones  duly  appreciated  the  sound 
sense  of  its  precepts.  With  La  Fayette,  as  with  Franklin,  he 
never  would  have  openly  differed.  This  may  be  safely  affirmed, 
though  he  never  was  put  to  the  test. 

"  I  have  at  the  request  of  M.  de  Sartine,  postponed  the  send- 
ing of  the  Alliance  to  America,  and  have  ordered  her  to  proceed 
immediately  from  Nantes  to  L'Orient,  where  she  is  to  be  fur- 
nished with  her  complement  of  men,  join  your  little  squadron, 
and  act  under  your  command. 

';  The  Marquis  de  la  Fayette  will  be  with  you  soon.  It  has 
been  observed,  that  joint  expeditions  of  land  and  sea  forces, 
often  miscarry  through  jealousies  and  misunderstandings  be- 
tween the  officers  of  the  different  corps.  This  must  happen 
where  there  are  little  minds,  actuated  more  by  personal  views 
of  profit  or  honour  to  themselves,  than  by  the  warm  and  sincere 
desire  of  good  to  their  country.  Knowing  you  both,  as  I  do, 
and  your  just  manner  of  thinking  on  these  occasions,  I  am  con- 
fident nothing  of  the  kind  can  happen  between  you,  and  that  it 
is  unnecessary  for  me  to  recommend  to  either  of  you,  that  con- 


152  PAUL   JONES. 

descension,  mutual  good  will,  and  harmony,  which  contribute 
so  much  to  success  in  such  undertakings.  I  look  upon  this 
expedition  as  an  introduction  only  to  greater  trusts  and  more 
extensive  commands,  and  as  a  kind  of  trial  of  both  your  abilities, 
and  of  your  fitness  in  temper  and  disposition  for  acting  in  con- 
cert with  others.  I  flatter  myself,  therefore,  that  nothing  will 
happen  that  may  give  impressions  to  the  disadvantage  of  either 
of  you,  when  greater  affairs  shall  come  under  consideration. 

"  As  this  is  understood  to  be  an  American  expedition,  under 
the  Congress  commission  and  colours,  the  Marquis,  who  is  a 
Major  General  in  that  service,  has  of  course  the  step-in  point 
of  rank,  and  he  must  have  the  command  of  the  land  forces, 
which  are  committed  by  the  king  to  his  care ;  but  the  command 
of  the  ships  will  be  entirely  in  you,  in  which  I  am  persuaded 
that  whatever  authority  his  rank  might  in  strictness  give  him, 
he  will  not  have  the  least  desire  to  interfere  with  you.  There 
is  honour  enough  to  be  got  for  both  of  you,  if  the  expedition  is 
conducted  with  a  prudent  unanimity.  The  circumstance  is 
indeed  a  little  unusual ;  for  there  is  not  only  a  junction  of  land 
and  sea  forces,  but  there  is  also  a  junction  of  Frenchmen  and 
Americans,  which  increases  the  difficulty  of  maintaining  a  good 
understanding ;  a  cool,  prudent  conduct  in  the  chiefs  is  there- 
fore the  more  necessary,  and  I  trust  neither  of  you  will  in  that 
respect  be  deficient.  With  my  best  wishes  for  your  success, 
health,  and  honour,  I  remain,  dear  Sir,  your  affectionate  and 
most  obedient  servant." 

Accompanying  this  letter  were  the  following  instructions,  the 
benevolent  cautions  contained  in  which,  Franklin  was  subse- 
quently almost  tempted  to  consider  as  savouring  of  too  much 
moderation,  when  he  heard  of  the  burnings  of  Fairfield,  and 
other  towns  in  America. 

"  1.  His  majesty,  having  been  pleased  to  grant  some  troops 
for  a  particular  expedition,  proposed  to  annoy  our  common 
enemy,  in  which  the  sea  force  under  your  command  might  have 
an  opportunity  of  distinguishing  itself,  you  are  to  receive  on 


PAUL   JONES.  153 

board  your  ships  of  war,  and  the  other  vessels  destined  for  that 
purpose,  the  troops  that  shall  present  themselves  to  you,  afford 
them  such  accommodations  as  shall  be  most  proper  for  pre- 
serving their  health,  and  convey  them  to  such  port  or  place  as 
their  commander  shall  desire  to  land  them  at. 

"  2.  When  the  troops  are  landed,  you  are  to  aid  by  all  means 
in  your  power,  their  operations,  as  they  will  be  instructed  in 
like  manner,  to  aid  and  support  those  you  may  make  with  your 
ships,  that  so  by  this  concurrence  and  union  of  your  different 
forces,  all  that  such  a  compounded  strength  is  capable  of,  may 
be  effected. 

"  3.  You  are,  during  the  expedition,  never  to  depart  from 
the  troops,  so  as  not  to  be  able  to  protect  them,  or  to  secure 
their  retreat  in  case  of  a  repulse  ;  and  in  all  events  you  are  to 
endeavour  their  complete  re-embarkation  on  board  the  ships 
and  transports  under  your  command  when  the  expedition  shall 
be  ended. 

"  4.  You  are  to  bring  to  France  all  the  English  seamen  you 
may  happen  to  take  prisoners,  in  order  to  complete  the  good 
work  you  already  have  made  such  progress  in,  of  delivering  by 
an  exchange  the  rest  of  our  countrymen  now  languishing  in  the 
jails  of  Great  Britain. 

"  5.  As  many  of  your  officers  and  people  have  lately  escaped 
from  English  prisons,  either  in  Europe  or  America,  you  are  to 
be  particularly  attentive  to  their  conduct  towards  the  prisoners 
which  the  fortune  of  war  may  throw  into  your  hands,  lest  the 
resentment  of  the  more  than  barbarous  usage  by  the  English  in 
many  places  towards  the  Americans,  should  occasion  a  retalia- 
tion and  imitation  of  what  ought  rather  to  be  detested  and 
avoided,  for  the  sake  of  humanity,  and  for  the  honour  of  our 
country. 

"  6.  In  the  same  view,  although  the  English  have  wantonly 
burnt  many  defenceless  towns  in  America,  you  are  not  to  fol- 
low this  example,  unless  when  a  reasonable  ransom  is  refused, 
in  which  case,  your  own  generous  feelings  as  well  as  this  instruc- 
tion, will  induce  you  to  give  timely  notice  of  your  intention,  that 

19 


154  PAUL   JONES. 

sick  and  ancient  persons,  women,  and  children,  may  be  first 
removed." 

On  the  same  day  with  Franklin,  La  Fayette  wrote  to  Jones, 
approving  of  his  measures,  and  regretting  that  he  heard  the 
cannon  were  promised  to  other  people.  He  said  that  he  wished 
the  expedition  to  be  soon  over,  as  his  return  in  the  middle  of 
summer  would  be  useful  to  the  common  cause  ;  and  he  hoped 
every  thing  would  be  in  readiness  by  the  7th  of  May.  He  did 
not  wish,  if  it  could  be  avoided,  to  put  land  troops  on  board  of 
the  Alliance,  because  disputes  would  occur  between  their  officers 
and  Captain  Landais.  As  he  was  willing  to  distribute  them  in 
the  other  ships,  it  is  plain  that  La  Fayette,  who  was  as  discern- 
ing as  he  was  chivalric,  had  some  conception  of  the  character  of 
the  captain  of  the  Alliance  ;  a  character,  which  in  any  attempt 
that  may  be  made  to  throw  light  upon  it  by  facts,  will  for  ever 
amuse  and  perplex  the  thinking  reader ;  unless  he  comes  soon 
to  the  conclusion,  that  Landais  was  not  altogether  sane  in  mind. 
But  this  solution  is  too  devoid  of  ingenuity,  to  satisfy  those  who 
make  the  motives  of  eccentric  individuals  a  study. 

In  reply  to  Franklin,  Jones  said  :  k'  The  letter  I  had  the 
honour  to  receive  from  you  to-day,  together  with  your  liberal  and 
noble  minded  instructions,  would  make  a  coward  brave.  You 
have  called  up  every  sentiment  of  public  virtue  in  my  breast, 
and  it  shall  be  my  pride  and  ambition,  in  the  strict  pursuit  of 
your  instructions,  to  deserve  success. 

"  Be  assured,  that  very  few  prospects  could  afford  me  so  true 
a  satisfaction  as  that  of  rendering  some  acceptable  service  to 
the  common  cause,  and  at  the  same  time  relieving  from  cap- 
tivity (by  furnishing  the  means  of  exchange)  our  unfortunate 
fellow  subjects  from  the  hands  of  the  enemy." 

And  to  La  Fayette  he  wrote  as  follows  :  "  So  flattering  and 
affectionate  a  proof  of  your  esteem  and  friendship,  has  made  an 
impression  on  my  mind  that  will  attend  me  while  I  live.  This 
I  hope  to  prove  by  more  than  words.  Where  men  of  fine  feel- 
ings are  concerned,  there  is  seldom  misunderstanding ;  and  t 
am  sure  I  should  do  violence  to  my  sensibility  if  I  were  capable 


PAUL   JONES.  155 

of  giving  you  a  moment's  pain  by  any  part  of  my  conduct. 
Therefore,  without  any  apology,  I  shall  expect  you  to  point  out 
my  errors,  when  we  are  together  alone,  with  perfect  freedom, 
and  I  think  I  dare  promise  you  your  reproof  shall  not  be  lost. 

"  I  have  received  from  the  good  Dr.  Franklin  instructions  at 
large,  which  do  honour  to  his  liberal  mind,  and  which  it  will 
give  me  the  truest  satisfaction  to  execute.  I  cannot  ensure 
success,  but  will  endeavour  to  deserve  it." 

On  the  30th  April,  he  informed  M.  Chaumont,  that  if  a  bat- 
tery of  28  good  twelve  pounders,  with  others  of  less  calibre  could 
be  procured,  he  was  willing  to  put  to  sea ;  that  he  had  on  his 
muster  roll  329  officers,  seamen,  and  volunteer  soldiers,  and 
would  not  lie  idle  for  want  of  men.  He  expressed  his  deep 
regret  at  the  political  disappointments  his  friend  M.  Gamier  had 
met  with. 

The  proposed  co-operation  of  La  Fayette  with  Jones,  was 
soon  abandoned  for  reasons  which  the  general  history  of  the 
times  easily  furnishes.  Spain  was  preparing  to  act  with  France 
against  England,  and  her  hostile  manifesto  was  delivered  by 
her  ambassador  a  few  weeks  subsequently.  In  the  attitude  in 
which  Great  Britain  then  stood,  it  was  by  no  means  chimerical 
to  anticipate  important  results  from  the  combined  operations  of 
the  two  fleets.  A  general  invasion  was  projected  ;  forces  were 
ordered  to  be  raised  in  the  northern  provinces  of  France,  and 
marched  to  the  coast,  and  general  officers  were  named  to  con- 
duct the  grand  enterprise.  On  the  22d  May,  La  Fayette  wrote 
to  inform  Jones  of  the  change  in  the  purposes  of  the  ministry. 
He  simply  stated  that  political  and  military  reasons  had  occa- 
sioned it,  and  added,  "  I  am  only  to  tell  you,  my  good  friend, 
how  sorry  I  feel  not  to  be  a  witness  of  your  success,  abilities, 
and  glory."  "  What  will  be  further  determined  about  your 
squadron  is  yet  uncertain,  and  the  ministers  are  to  consult  with 
Dr.  Franklin."  In  Franklin's  letter  to  the  committee  of  foreign 
affairs,  written  about  the  same  time,  he  merely  mentions  that 
the  marquis  was  not  to  go  with  Jones,  "  the  plan  having  been 
a  little  changed."  In  a  subsequent  confidential  letter,  he  speaks 


156  JPAUL  JONES. 

of  the  new  project,  as  "  the  grand  invasion."  It  will  be  seen, 
that  Jones  wrote  under  a  partial,  if  not  total  misunderstanding 
of  the  causes,  which  led  to  a  modification  of  the  plan  first  pro- 
posed, in  part  of  the  following  extract  of  his  Journal  for  the 
king,  though  it  was  composed  many  years  afterwards. 

"  A  person  [M.  Le  Ray  de  Chaumont*]  was  appointed  com- 
missary of  the  expense  of  the  squadron,  and  unwisely  entrusted 
with  the  secret  of  the  expedition.  The  cannon  had  not  arrived 
for  the  Bon  Homme  Richard,  and  she  was  in  great  haste  mounted 
with  a  battery  of  indifferent  twelve  pounders.  Six  old  fashioned 
long  eighteen  pounders  were  mounted  in  the  gun-room  ;  and 
ports  were  cut  to  fight  them  six  on  one  side.  Thus,  with  the 
guns  on  the  quarter-deck  and  forecastle,  the  Bon  Homme 
Richard  mounted  forty  guns  ;  and  with  the  Alliance  of  thirty-six, 
the  Pallas  of  thirty-two,  the  Cerf  of  eighteen,  and  the  Vengeance 
of  twelve,  composed  the  little  squadron.  A  crew  was  hastily 
procured  for  the  Bon  Homme  Richard,  from  among  the  English 
prisoners,  and  by  enlisting  raw  French  peasants  as  volunteers. 
Captain  Jones  had  not  more  than  thirty  Americans  among  the 
crew.  In  the  Alliance,  there  had  been  a  mutiny  on  the  passage 
from  America,t  and  the  captain  and  officers  were  ready  to  cut 


*  Interlined  in  his  own  hand  writing. 

t  By  a  resolution  of  Congress  of  May  29th,  1778,  the  new  continental  frigate,  built 
at  Salisbury,  Mass,  and  then  recently  launched,  was  called  the  Alliance.  It  appears 
by  a  report  of  the  Marine  Committee,  on  the  29th  April  previous,  that  they  considered 
Captain  Landais,  who  was  afterwards  appointed  her  commander,  "  an  experienced 
sea  officer,  and  skilled  in  the  construction  of  ships  of  war."  The  nature  of  the  diffi- 
culties which  took  place  on  board  the  Alliance,  referred  to  in  the  text,  is  not  particu- 
larly explained.  It  may  have  arisen  from  the  national  or  personal  character  of  the 
captain,  or  from  quarrels  as  to  rank.  Mr.  Adams  was  to  have  returned  in  this  vessel 
to  America;  and  was  on  board  of  her  when  Jones  wrote  to  him  begging  an  explanation, 
if  he  could  give  one,  of  the  misunderstanding  which  prevailed,  and  asking  where  the 
fault  lay.  The  Minister  of  Marine  offered  Mr.  Adams  a  passage  home,  in  the  frigate 
with  the  new  ambassador  to  the  United  States.  Franklin  wrote  to  Jones,  "  I  am  sorry 
for,  and  ashamed  of  the  divisions  on  board  the  Alliance.  I  hope  these  commissions 
will  enable  you  to  compose  them."  The  want  of  harmony  on  board  of  this  ship,  may 
have  had  some  effect  upon  its  strange  movements,  while  nominally  attached  to 
Jones'  squadron 


PAUL   JONES.  157 

one  another's  throats.  The  first  and  second  lieutenants  deserted. 
The  Pallas,  a  merchant  ship,  had  been  built  for  the  king,  and 
hastily  fitted  at  Nantes.  The  Vengeance  was  bought  by  the 
commissary,  and  fitted  in  the  same  manner.  The  Cerf,  a  fine 
cutter,  was  alone  well  fitted  and  manned.  The  commissary 
took  upon  himself  the  whole  direction  at  L'Orient,  and  went 
far  beyond  the  powers  of  a  commissary  ;  but  the  secret  was  too 
big  for  him  to  keep.  All  Paris  rang  with  the  expedition  from 
L'Orient ;  and  government  was  obliged  to  drop  the  plan,  when 
the  squadron  lay  ready  for  sea,  and  the  troops  ready  to  embark." 

The  term  commissary,  as  here  employed,  was  technically 
inapplicable,  whether  in  French  or  English,  to  the  gentleman 
in  question  ;  and  is  calculated  to  convey  an  erroneous  impres- 
sion. M.  Chaumont  was  the  confidential  agent  of  both  govern- 
ments. His  trust  had  in  it  nothing  in  common  with  that  of  a 
contractor,  and  his  functions  were  in  some  measure  diplomatic, 
as  well  as  ministerial.  He  acted  directly  for  M.  de  Sartine,  to 
whom,  as  France  furnished  all  the  expense  of  the  armament, 
he  was  alone  responsible.  Jones,  therefore,  used  the  word 
commissary  inadvertently  ;  and  having  used  it,  his  associations 
with  the  duties  of  such  an  officer,  (he  detested  the  whole  genus,) 
led  him  into  involuntary  crimination  of  one  of  his  best  friends. 
When  recruits  and  volunteers  were  brought  from  the  adjacent 
seaports  and  the  interior  to  L'Orient,  Jones  was  inquiring 
every  where  for  ships  and  cannon,  and  M.  Chaumont  was  pur- 
chasing stores  and  vessels  for  the  armament,  preparations  which 
occupied  months.  It  would  seem  to  have  been  unnecessary  for 
the  latter  gentleman  to  have  broken  confidence,  in  order  to  put 
the  by-standers  in  possession  of  a  fact,  of  which  they  were 
already  aware  ;  that  the  ships  and  warlike  stores  thus  collected 
were  to  be  used  at  sea.  And  there  is  little  reason  to  doubt, 
that  the  destination  of  the  armament  was  a  subject  of  free  con- 
versation and  speculation.  As  we  shall  quote  Jones'  language 
literally,  this  explanation  is  due  in  this  place. 

On  the  10th  and  14th  June,  M.  Chaumont  sent  to  Jones  his 
official  hints  and  suggestions,  as  to  the  government  of  the  fleet, 


158  PAUL   JONES. 

and  the  disposition  of  the  prizes.  He  observed,  Jhat  as  the 
situation  of  the  officers,  who  had  accepted  commissions  from 
Congress  to  join  the  armament  of  the  Bon  Richard,  might  be 
in  contradiction  with  the  interest  of  their  own  ships,  he  was 
induced  to  request  Jones  to  enter  into  an  engagement  with  him, 
not  to  require  from  those  vessels  any  services,  not  conformable 
to  the  orders  such  officers  might  have  ;  and  not  to  make  any 
change  in  the  formation  of  their  crews.  He  also  requested 
that  all  prizes  might  be  addressed  to  such  consignees  as  he 
should  point  out,  for  the  preservation  of  the  interests  of  all 
concerned. 

By  the  orders  of  the  minister,  Jones  was  at  this  time  employed 
in  giving  convoy  to  a  fleet  bound  for  Bordeaux,  and  other 
ports  in  the  bay  of  Biscay,  containing  troops,  stores,  and  other 
merchandise.  He  was  also  directed  on  his  return,  to  drive  the 
enemy's  cruisers  out  of  the  bay.  This  service,  he  says  in  his 
Journal,  he  performed.  On  the  night  of  June  20th,  while  the 
fleet  lay  to  off  Rochefort,  "  the  Bon  Homme  Richard  and 
Alliance  got  foul  of  each  other ;  which  carried  away  the  B.  H. 
R's  head  and  bowsprit,  and  the  Alliance's  mizen-mast."  This 
accident  was  allowed  on  all  hands  to  have  been  owing  to  the 
clumsy  management  of  the  Alliance,  but  it  was  further  supposed 
that  the  collision  was  not  altogether  unintentional  on  the  part  of 
Landais.  Among  the  articles  subsequently  attested  by  the 
officers  of  the  squadron,  the  first  was,  "  that  the  captain  of  the 
Alliance  did  not  take  the  steps  in  his  power  to  prevent  his  ship 
from  getting  foul  of  the  Bon  Homme  Richard,  in  the  bay  of 
Biscay;  for,  instead  of  putting  his  helm  a-weather,  and  bearing 
up  to  make  way  for  his  commanding  officer,  (which  was  his 
duty,)  he  left  the  deck  to  load  his  pistols."  The  offence,  how- 
ever, was  visited  upon  the  lieutenant  of  the  Bon  Homme 
Richard,  who  had  the  watch,  and  was  broken  by  a  court  martial 
held  shortly  afterwards.  Jones  observes,  that  there  were  faults 
on  both  sides. 

On  the  21st  June,  Jones  sent  the  Cerf  to  reconnoitre  two  sail. 
She  fell  in  with  a  sloop  of  14  guns  ;  and  after  a  warm  engage- 


PAUL  JONES.  159 

ment  was  obliged  to  abandon  her  prize,  on  the  approach  of  a 
superior  force,  and  went  to  L' Orient  to  refit.  The  next  day 
three  ships  of  war  were  discerned  to  windward.  They  bore 
down  in  order ;  but  finding  the  squadron  prepared  to  receive 
them,  escaped  by  superior  sailing.  A  few  days  after,  the  Alliance 
and  Pallas  separated  from  the  two  other  ships  in  a  fog.  On 
coming  in  sight  of  the  road  of  Groix,  the  wind  being  contrary, 
Jones  gave  the  Vengeance  leave  to  make  the  best  of  her  way  in, 
and  found  himself,  at  the  approach  of  night,  near  two  large 
frigates.  He  steered  for  them  for  half  an  hour,  to  prepare  for 
action,  and  then  tacked  to  engage.  When  they  saw  this,  the 
pursuers  ran  away  ;  and,  as  Jones  says,  "  to  his  great  mortifi- 
cation outsailed  the  Bon  Homme  Richard,  and  got  clear."* 

Unapprised  of  the  necessary  delay  which  the  repairs  of  the 
squadron  would  create,  Franklin  addressed  to  Jones,  the  same 
day  on  which  he  arrived  at  the  Isle  de  Groix,  the  following 
instructions. 

"  Being  arrived  at  Groix,  you  are  to  make  the  best  of  your 
way  with  the  vessels  under  your  command  to  the  West  of 
Ireland,  and  establish  your  cruise  on  the  Orcades,  the  Cape  of 
Derneus,  and  the  Dogger  Bank,  in  order  to  take  the  enemy's 
property  in  those  seas. 

"  The  prizes  you  may  make,  send  to  Dunkirk,  Ostend,  or 
Bergen,  in  Norway,  according  to  your  proximity  to  either  of 
those  ports.  Address  them  to  the  persons  M.  de  Chaumont 
shall  indicate  to  you. 

"  About  the  15th  of  August,  when  you  will  have  sufficiently 


*  The  log  book  of  the  Bon  Homme  Richard  has  the  following  entry  on  the  30th 
June.  "  At  half  past  7,  p.  M.  saw  two  sail  bearing  down  upon  us,  one  with  a  flag  at 
each  mast-head.  Hove  about  and  stood  from  them  to  get  in  readiness  for  action ;  then 
hove  mizen-topsail  to  the  mast,  down  all  stay-sails  and  up  mizen-sail.  Then  they 
hove  about  and  stood  from  us.  Immediately  we  tacked  ship  and  stood  after  them. 

"  After  which  they  wore  ship  and  stood  for  us.  Captain  Jones,  gentleman-like, 
called  all  his  officers,  and  consulted  them  whether  they  were  willing  to  see  them. 
They  all  said,  Yes.  Made  sail  after  them ;  but  they,  being  better  sailers  than  we,  got 
from  us.  At  1,  A.  M.  tacked  ship." 


160  PAUL   JONES. 

cruised  in  these  seas,  you  are  to  make  route  for  the  Texel, 
where  you  will  meet  my  further  orders. 

"  If  by  any  personal  accident  you  should  be  rendered  unable 
to  execute  these  instructions,  the  officer  of  your  squadron  next 
in  rank  is  to  endeavour  to  put  them  in  execution." 

In  the  letter  from  Jones,  giving  an  account  of  his  proceedings, 
which  crossed  these  instructions  on  the  road,  he  said  :  "I  have 
traversed  the  Golf  de  Gascogne,  over  and  over,  both  within  and 
without  soundings,  from  half  a  degree  to  the  southward  of  the 
Island  of  Bordeaux,  to  the  Ras  passage,  in  sight  of  Brest.  I 
have  fallen  in  with  and  chased  various  other  ships*  and  vessels, 
which  I  believe  were  enemies,  but  all  such  as  I  have  been  able  to 
overtake,  proved  either  Dutch,  Spanish,  or  other  neutral  pro- 
perty." "  If  the  court  is  yet  disposed  to  give  me  the  ship,  which 
they  at  first  offered,  I  think  it  possible  in  the  present  situation  of 
my  affairs  to  make  a  useful  and  honourable  cruise  that  way, 
with  the  force  now  under  my  command,  and  afterwards  to 
bring  that  ship  out  with  the  crew  I  now  have."  Jones  was 
"  still  harping  on  my  daughter."  Though  he  expressed  himself 
much  satisfied  with  the  martial  spirit  shown  by  his  crew  in  this 
affair  with  the  frigates,  and  was  confident,  "  that  if  he  had 
been  able  to  get  between  them,  according  to  his  intention,  he 
would  have  beaten  them  both  together,"  still  he  found  the  old 
Indiaman  a  dull  sailor,  and  provided  with  unsuitable  ordnance. 
Franklin  stated  in  reply  :  "  I  have  no  other  orders  to  give  ;  for, 
as  the  court  is  at  the  chief  expense,  I  think  they  have  the  best 
right  to  direct.  I  observe  what  you  write  about  a  change  of 
the  destination  ;  but  when  a  thing  has  been  once  considered  and 
determined  on  in  council,  they  do  not  care  to  resume  the  con- 
sideration of  it,  having  much  business  on  hand,  and  there  is  not 
now  time  to  obtain  a  reconsideration."  He  threw  out,  how- 
ever, the  consoling  intimation,  that  it  had  been  hinted  to  him, 
that  "  the  intention  of  ordering  the  cruise  to  finish  at  the  Texel, 
was  with  a  view  of  getting  out  the  Indien  ;  but  this  should  be 
kept  a  secret."  He  confirmed  absolutely  the  instructions  of 
M.  Chaumont ;  and  added  the  following  significant  postscript : 


PAUL   JONES.  161 

"If  it  should  fall  in  your  way,  remember  that  the  Hudson's 
Bay  ships  are  very  valuable." 

On  the  2d  of  July,  the  Alliance  and  Pallas  arrived  with  an 
Irish  brig  laden  with  wine,  &c.  which  they  had  captured,  and 
the  squadron  went  to  L'Orient  for  repairs.  The  Pallas,  Cerf, 
and  Vengeance  were  ordered  on  a  short  cruise,  from  which  they 
returned  without  effecting  any  thing  of  consequence.  Mean- 
time Jones  renewed  his  complaints  against  the  communicative 
disposition  of  M.  De  Chaumont.  The  course  we  have  adopted 
requires  the  insertion  of  the  letter. 

"  He  has  written  to  an  officer  under  my  command  a  whole 
sheet  on  the  subject  of  your  letter,  and  has  even  introduced 
more  than  perhaps  was  necessary  to  a  person  commanding  in 
chief.  I  have  also  strong  reasons  to  think  that  this  officer  is 
not  the  only  imptoper  person  here  to  whom  he  has  written  to 
the  same  effect.  This  is  surely  a  strange  infatuation,  and  it 
is  much  to  be  lamented  that  one  of  the  best  hearts  in  the  world 
should  be  connected  with  a  mistaken  head,  whose  errors  can 
afford  him  neither  pleasure  nor  profit,  but  may  effect  the  ruin 
and  dishonour  of  a  man  whom  he  esteems  and  loves.  Believe 
me,  my  worthy  sir,  I  dread  the  thoughts  of  seeing  this  subject 
too  soon  in  print,  as  I  have  done  several  others  of  greater 
importance,  with  which  he  was  acquainted,  and  which  I  am 
certain  he  communicated  too  early  to  improper  persons,  whereby 
very  important  services  have  been  impeded  and  set  aside." 

In  a  marginal  note,  in  the  hand  writing  of  Jones,  he  says : 
"  I  found  it  in  print  before  I  reached  Holland."  At  the  present 
day,  it  would  have  been  in  type  in  a  week. 

The  Bon  Homme  Richard,  on  inspection,  at  L'Orient,  was 
found  too  old  for  necessary  alterations,  and  fit  only  for  extem- 
porary service.  The  bowsprit  was  found  to  be  sprung,  which  re- 
quired attention.  The  Alliance  was  also  hove  down  and  careened. 
"  Notwithstanding,"  Jones  wrote  to  Franklin,  "the  Httle  squad- 
ron will  not  be  detained,  so  as  to  interfere  with  the  execution  of 
your  orders.  When  we  meet  with  the  enemy's  property  of  no 
great  value,  or  that  cannot  be  conveniently  sent  into  ports, 

20 


162  PAUL   JONES. 

would  it  not  be  proper  to  '  sink,  burn,  or  otherwise  destroy' 
such  property  ?  I  have  had  such  charge  in  my  instructions  from 
Congress;  and  it  is,  therefore,  that  I  mention  it  now.  I 
would  also  beg  leave  to  ask,  whether  I  may  or  may  not  attempt 
to  avail  myself  of  every  opportunity  that  may  seem  to  present 
itself  to  distress  the  enemy."  In  a  marginal  note,  he  says,  "  I 
have  ever  made  this  my  study." 

On  the  14th  of  this  month,  he  wrote  to  M.  Chaumont  on 
matters  purely  of  a  business  nature,  but  in  a  most  cordial  and 
affectionate  strain ;  proceeding  with  policy  as  he  deemed,  no 
doubt,  upon  his  hypothesis,  that  the  heart  of  that  gentleman 
was  good,  though  his  mind  was  not  strong.  He  concluded  by 
saying :  "  I  thank  you,  not  as  a  matter  of  form,  but  as  a  man 
who  really  esteems  himself  honoured  by  your  friendship,  for  the 
constant  attention  which  you  show  to  my  honour,  and  to  the 
American  interest.  I  faithfully  assure  you,  that  nothing  could 
make  me  so  happy  as  to  testify  my  regard  for  you,  by  render- 
ing some  real  honour  to  the  American  flag,  and  some  real  service 
to  the  best  of  kings.  Thus  much  you  may  safely  venture  to 
say,  when  alone  with  the  minister  at  Versailles." 

In  pursuance  of  the  desire  of  M.  de  Sartine,  M.  Chamillard 
de  Varville  was  admitted  to  the  command  en  second  of  the  Bon 
Homme  Richard.  On  the  19th,  Franklin  lengthened  the  cruise, 
at  De  Sartine's  request,  to  the  end  of  September,  to  give  a  longer 
time  for  finishing  it  at  the  Orcades.  On  the  26th,  Jones  wrote 
Franklin,  that  he  had  advices  that  the  Jamaica  fleet  would  sail 
homewards,  escorted  by  a  fifty  gun  ship  and  two  frigates,  and 
that  he  should  certainly  engage  them  if  he  fell  in  with  them, 
though  his  ships  would  probably  be  too  much  cut  up  to  prevent 
the  escape  of  the  convoy.  He  urged  the  convenience  of  attach 
ing  the  Monsieur  frigate,  a  privateer,  to  his  command,  which 
had  been  spoken  of  when  he  was  at  Paris,  and  which  would 
give  him  a  superiority  over  the  convoy.  On  the  28th,  he  wrote, 
in  relation  to  the  proceedings  of  a  court  martial  which  had  been 
held  for  the  trial  of  several  alleged  offences,  on  board  the  Bon 
Homme  Richard.  Notwithstanding  the  "  martial  spirit"  shown 


PAUL   JONES.  Hi:* 

by  his  seamen,  in  the  affair  with  the  two  frigates,  he  observed  a 
mutinous  disposition  among  the  English,  "  who  remained  on 
board  from  necessity,  and  not  from  choice,"  after  he  had  been 
forbidden  to  enlist  the  French  seamen.  He  had  learned  from 
Franklin,  that  accounts  of  these  insurrectionary  symptoms  had 
reached  the  ears  of  M.  De  Sartine,  with  whom  he  was  not  in 
immediate  correspondence ;  and  was  much  annoyed  by  it. 
While  the  proceedings  before  the  court  martial  were  pending, 
the  suggestions  made  by  Jones  to  Franklin  are  creditable  to  his 
good  sense.  Two  quarter-masters  were  charged  with  conspiracy 
at  sea,  against  whom  the  evidence  was  strong.  "  Should  any 
person,"  he  says,  "  be  condemned  to  death,  I  will  suspend  the 
execution  of  the  sentence,  until  I  have  your  orders  on  the  subject. 
In  the  mean  time,  as  I  wish  to  give  no  offence  in  a  foreign  port,  I 
submit  to  you,  whether  it  would  not  be  better  to  make  this  pro- 
ceeding known  at  Versailles.  Should  I  depart  from  hence, 
before  I  receive  your  orders,  if  there  be  any  sentence  of  death,  I 
will  leave  the  condemned  in  prison  on  shore  ;  and  you  may  be 
assured  that  the  court  will  proceed  with  due  circumspection  and 
lenity,  as  far  as  may  be  consonant  with  the  rules  of  the  service." 

i  .  X 

The  sentences  of  this  court,  however,  except  in  the  case  of  the 
lieutenant  of  the  Bon  Homme  Richard,  who  was  cashiered,  as 
before  mentioned,  amounted  only  to  whipping. 

Any  further  delay  than  that  which  repairs  occasioned  would 
have  been  particularly  vexatious  at  this  time,  as  in  compliance 
with  the  minister's  desire,  Franklin  would  have  given  orders  to 
the  Alliance  to  sail  on  a  separate  cruise.  One  hundred  and 
nineteen  American  prisoners  had  arrived  in  a  cartel  at  Nantes, 
and  M.  Chaumont  paid  a  visit  to  the  seaboard  to  obtain  a  better 
crew  for  the  Bon  Homme  Richard.  On  the  eve  of  his  depar- 
ture, he  informed  Franklin  in  a  note,  that  it  would  probably  be 
necessary  to  retard  the  sailing  of  that  vessel,  until  she  was  more 
properly  manned  ;  in  which  case  M.  De  Sartine  desired  that 
Captain  Landais  might  have  orders  to  put  to  sea  forthwith 
from  L' Orient,  to  cruise  on  the  north  of  Scotland  until  the  end 
of  September. 


164  PAUL   JONES. 

The  strange  commander  of  the  Alliance,  if  he  did  not  insti- 
gate this  order,  would  no  doubt  have  been  well  pleased  with  its 
going  into  effect.  What  figure  he  would  have  cut  upon  the 
coasts,  on  his  own  account,  cannot  be  conjectured.  But  the 
visit  of  M.  Chaumont  was  in  every  respect  unacceptable  to 
Jones,  who  told  the  minister,  "  this  second  journey  of  M.  Chau- 
mont was  altogether  unnecessary ;  as  I  had,  before  his  arrival 
at  L' Orient,  sent  officers  to  Nantes  to  enlist  Americans,  and 
had  also  enlisted  as  many  of  the  strangers  as  were  willing  to 
embark  at  L'Orient." 

The  contents  and  date  of  a  letter  addressed  to  Jones'  eldest 
sister  about  this  time,  which  has  been  accidentally  preserved, 
make  us  acquainted  with  %  pleasing  trait  in  his  character, 
which  should  not  be  overlooked,  though  it  here  interrupts  the 
current  of  the  narrative.  The  letter  is  dated  Cork,  June  1st, 
and  encloses  a  bill  of  exchange  drawn  for  thirty  pounds  sterling 
on  a  person  in  Carlisle,  in  favour  of  Captain  Pliance,  a  friend 
of  Jones'  relations,  for  whose  use  he  had  made  the  remittance. 
The  drawee  could  not  be  heard  of,  and  with  similar  remittances, 
which  Jones  had  made  from  time  to  time,  this  failed  in  coming 
to  the  hands  of  those  for  whom  it  was  destined.  But  the  cir- 
cumstances, with  many  others,  some  of  which  will  appear, 
proves  that  he  never  forgot  or  ceased  to  cherish  those  who  were 
nearest  to  him  in  blood.  In  reply  to  a  letter  from  his  sister, 
Mrs.  Taylor,  at  a  subsequent  period,  informing  him  of  the  death 
of  his  mother  and  eldest  sister,  he  says,  "  The  loss  of  those 
dear  friends  is  the  more  affecting  to  me,  as  they  never  received 
the  remittances  I  intended  for  them,  and  as  they  had  not,  per- 
haps a  true  idea  of  my  affection." 

The  Monsieur,  described  as  a  fine  privateer  of  forty  guns, 
and  the  Grandville  of  fourteen,  joined  the  squadron.  Their 
captains,  Jones  says,  "  requested  him  to  permit  them  to  follow 
his  motions,  and  share  his  fortune  ;  and  offered  to  come  under 
any  obligation  not  to  leave  the  squadron.  But  the  commissary 
thought  fit  to  leave  the  privateers  to  act  on  the  great  scale  of 
honour,  and  would  hear  of  no  obligation  being  taken  from  them." 


PAUL  JONES.  165 

There  can  be  little  question,  that  M.  Chaumont  had  no  autho 
rity  to  give  these  vessels  any  other  character  than  that  which 
they  possessed,  nor  had  Jones  any  commissions  to  give  their 
commanders.  M.  Chaumont  was  either  instructed,  or  deemed 
it  necessary,  to  require  the  commanders  of  the  squadron  to  sign 
a  paper,  called  a  concordat,  as  intimated  in  a  letter  written  by 
him  two  months  before,  which  we  have  cited.  Jones  subse- 
quently complained,  that  it  was  imposed  upon  him  at  the 
moment  of  departure,  and  said  he  would  have  rejected  it  with 
indignation  if  offered  at  the  beginning.  It  was  the  fruitful 
source  of  many  bitter  commentaries  ;  and  a  reference  to  it  never 
failed  to  operate  as  an  oestrum,  exciting  angry  or  sarcastic 
remark.  It  is  to  be  observed,  however,  that  having  read  it,  he 
did  sign  it ;  and  that  in  his  earliest  letters  to  M.  Chaumont 
after  sailing,  he  made  no  allusion  to  it.  By  this  instrument, 
the  five  captains,  Jones,  Landais,  Cottineau,  Varage,  and  Ricot, 
"  composing  a  squadron  to  be  commanded  byjthe  oldest  officer 
of  the  highest  grade,  and  so  on  in  succession,  In  case  of  death 
or  retreat,"  agreed,  that,  unless  separated  from  the  squadron 
by  order  of  the  minister,  each  should  act  only  by  virtue  of 
the  brevet  which  they  should  have  obtained  from  the  United 
States,  whose  flag  was  to  be  displayed.  The  division  of  prizes 
to  the  officers  and  crews  was  to  be  made  according  to  the 
American  laws  ;  but  the  proportion  of  each  vessel*  was  to  be 
regulated  by  the  minister  of  the  French  marine  and  the 
American  minister.  A  copy  of  the  American  laws  was  to 
be  annexed  to  the  agreement,  after  having  been  certified  by 
Jones.  Where  their  provisions  were  inadequate,  the  matter 
was  to  be  determined  as  above  mentioned.  The  orders  of  the 
French  minister  of  marine  and  of  the  American  plenipotentiary 
were  to  be  executed.  The  prizes  were  to  be  remitted  to  M. 


*  The  date  of  the  concordat  is  not  fixed.  But  on  the  13th  August,  the  day  before 
he  sailed,  Jones  wrote  to  Franklin  that  he  was  persuaded  he  would  think  it  unreason- 
able that  the  captain  of  the  Vengeance  should  share  equally  with  the  captain  of  the 
Pallas,  &c.  He  did  not,  therefore,  object  to  this  article. 


166  PAUL   JONES. 

Le  Ray  de  Chaumont,  who  had  furnished  the  expenses  of  the 
armament  of  the  squadron,  and  who  was  to  be  requested  not  to 
give  up  the  part  of  the  prizes  accruing,  to  all  the  crews,  and  to 
any  individual  of  the  squadron,  but  to  their  order,  and  to  be 
answerable  in  his  own  name.  Armed  vessels,  whether  French 
or  American,  might  be  associated  with  the  squadron  by  common 
consent,  and  have  such  proportion  of  the  prizes,  as  the  laws  of  their 
respective  countries  allowed.  In  case  of  the  death  of  a  com 
mander,  he  was  to  be  replaced  according  to  the  order  of  the 
tableau  ;  with  liberty  to  the  person  entitled,  however,  to  remain 
in  his  own  vessel  and  yield  the  vacancy  to  the  next.  In  case 
of  any  accident  happening  to  M.  Varage,  of  the  Cerf,  he  was  to 
be  replaced  by  his  second  in  command,  &c. 

On  the  face  of  these  articles  there  appears  nothing  that  does 
not  seem  plain  and  equitable. 

On  the  10th  of  August,  Jones  issued  his  circular  to  the  cap- 
tains of  the  sqdjpdron,  directing  them  never  to  chase  so  as  to 
lose  company,  and,  if  separated  from  the  Bon  Homme  Richard, 
to  open  their  letters  of  rendezvous.  On  the  13th  he  addressed 
La  Fayette,  evidently  under  an  erroneous  impression  as  to  the 
causes  which  had  prevented  the  Major  General  from  joining 
him.  He  mentioned  that  he  had  determined  before  receiving 
the  last  letter  from  him,  to  propose  another  project,  which  he 
was  sure  would  have  been  adopted  by  La  Fayette.  He  thanked 
him  for  the  company  and  assistance  of  Messrs.  Weibert  and 
Chamillard. 

At  day  break  on  the  14th  August,  the  squadron  sailed  from 
Groix,  consisting  of  seven  sail,  including  the  two  privateers. 
"Unfortunately,"  says  Jones,  "there  was  neither  secrecy  nor 
subordination.  Captain  Jones  saw  his  danger  ;  but  his  reputa- 
tion being  at  stake,  he  put  all  to  the  hazard."  On  the  18th, 
they  "  retook  a  large  ship  belonging  to  Holland,  laden  chiefly 
with  brandy  and  wine,  that  had  been  destined  from  Barcelona 
for  Dunkirk,  and  taken  eight  days  before  by  an  English  priva- 
teer. The  captain  of  the  Monsieur,  however,  took  out  of  this 


PAUL   JONES.  167 

prize  such  articles  as  he  pleased  in  the  night,  and  the  next  day 
being  astern  of  the  squadron  and  to  windward,  he  actually  wrote 
orders  in  his  proper  name,  and  sent  away  the  prize  under  one  of 
his  own  officers."  The  commodore,  however,  not  understand- 
ing the  propriety  of  this  disposition  of  die  Verwagting,  (the  name 
of  the  Dutch  ship,)  sent  her  to  L'Orient,  with  a  letter  to  M. 
Chaumont ;  and  the  Monsieur,  after  detaining  the  squadron  for 
twenty-four  hours,  by  lagging  behind,  separated  from  it 
altogether.  On  the  21st,  a  brigantine  was  taken,  loaded  with 
provisions,  from  Limerick  to  London,  and  sent  to  L'Orient.  On 
the  23d,  in  sight  of  Cape  Clear  and  the  S.  W.  part  of  Ireland, 
Jones  had  the  first  specimen  of  what  he  was  to  expect  from 
Captain  Landais.  We  quote  from  his  official  account. 

"  That  afternoon,  it  being  calm,  I  sent  some  armed  boats  to 
take  a  brigantine  that  appeared  in  the  N.  W.  quarter.  Soon 
after,  in  the  evening,  it  became  necessary  to  have  a  boat  ahead 
of  the  ship  to  tow,  as  the  helm  could  not  prevent  her  from  laying 
across  the  tide  of  flood,  which  would  have  driven  us  into  a  deep 
and  dangerous  bay,  situated  between  the  rocks  on  the  south 
called  the  Skallocks,  and  on  the  north  called  the  Blaskets. 
The  ship's  boats  being  absent,  I  sent  my  own  barge  ahead  to 
tow  the  ship.  The  boats  took  the  brigantine  ;  she  was  called 
the  Fortune,  and  bound  with  a  cargo  of  oil,  blubber,  and  staves, 
from  Newfoundland  for  Bristol ;  this  vessel  I  ordered  to  proceed 
immediately  for  Nantes  or  St.  Malo.  Soon  after  sunset  the 
villains  who  towed  the  ship,  cut  the  tow  rope  and  decamped 
with  my  barge.  Sundry  shots  were  fired  to  bring  them  to, 
without  effect ;  in  the  mean  time  the  master  of  the  Bon  Homme 
Richard,  without  orders,  manned  one  of  the  ship's  boats,  and 
with  four  soldiers  pursued  the  barge  in  order  to  stop  the  de- 
serters. The  evening  was  clear  and  serene,  but  the  zeal  of  that 
officer,  Mr.  Cutting  Lunt,  induced  him  to  pursue  too  far,  and  a 
fog  which  came  on  soon  afterward  prevented  the  boats  from 
rejoining  the  ship,  although  I  caused  signal  guns  to  be  frequently 
fired.  The  fog  and  calm  continued  the  next  day  till  towards 
evening  In  the  afte-noon,  Captain  Landais  came  on  board 


168  PAUL   JONES. 

the  Bon  Homme  Richard  and  behaved  towards  me  with  great 
disrespect,  affirming  in  the  most  indelicate  manner  and  language, 
that  I  had  lost  my  boats  and  people  through  my  imprudence  in 
sending  boats  to  take  a  prize  !  He  persisted  in  his  reproaches, 
though  he  was  assured  by  Messrs.  De  Weibert  and  De  Cha- 
millard,  that  the  barge  was  towing  the  ship  at  the  time  of  elope- 
ment, and  that  she  had  not  been  sent  in  pursuit  of  the  prize. 
He  was  affronted,  because  I  would  not  the  day  before  suffer 
him  to  chase  without  my  orders,  and  to  approach  the  dangerous 
shore  I  have  already  mentioned,  where  he  was  an  entire 
stranger,  and  where  there  was  not  sufficient  wind  to  govern  a 
ship.  He  told  me  he  was  the  only  American  in  the  squadron, 
and  was  determined  to  follow  his  own  opinion  in  chasing  when 
and  where  he  thought  proper,  and  in  every  other  matter  that 
concerned  the  service ;  and  that  if  we  continued  in  that  situation 
three  days  longer,  the  squadron  would  be  taken."  This  account 
of  the  behaviour  of  Landais  on  this  occasion  is  confirmed,  with 
immaterial  variations,  by  several  respectable  officers  present. 
His  gestures  were  as  violent  and  indecorous  as  his  language. 
The  declaration  of  Lieutenant  Colonel  Weibert,  afterwards  of 
the  corps  of  American  engineers,  then  Jones'  Lieutenant,  leads 
us  to  infer  that  this  uninspired  madman  may  have  been  exas- 
perated, by  misunderstanding  the  Reproof  valiant  for  the  Lie 
direct.  Colonel  Weibert,  says  :  "  The  commodore  did  not  say 
to  M.  Landais,  '  you  lie,'  but,  '  it  is  an  untruth,'  [referring  to 
the  manner  in  which  the  boats  had  been  lost,]  '  which  M.  Lan- 
dais was  pleased  to  interpret  as  a  formal  giving  the  lie;  who 
was  never  able  to  overcome  his  peevish,  obstinate,  turbulent, 
and  ungovernable  temper,  which  he  constantly  showed  during 
the  whole  of  the  campaign."  He  adds  that  Landais  rendered 
his  insulting  expressions  in  English  immediately  into  French  ; 
in  order  that  M.  Chamillard,  who  was  present,  might  apprehend 
their  import.  As  Jones  could  not  find  out  the  character  of  this 
preux  chevalier  at  once,  he  certainly  proved  the  sincerity  of  his 
professions  by  subjugating  his  anger  to  the  great  interest  he  had 
at  heart.  He  must  soon  have  begun  to  suspect  that  there  was 


PAUL  JONES.  169 

a  crick  in  the  captain's  judgment.     He  was  afterward  induced 
to  consider  him  a  Major  Longbow.* 

The  Cerf  was  sent  to  reconnoitre  the  coast,  and  endeavour 
to  recover  the  boats  and  people.  After  standing  off  and  on  the 
coast  till  the  evening  of  the  26th,  neither  the  Cerf  nor  the  boats 
appeared.  The  Cerf  Jones  says  in  his  Journal,  was  seen  by 
Mr.  Lunt,  the  master,  on  the  day  she  was  sent  to  reconnoitre; 
and  he  approached  her  gladly,  "  but  that  cutter  then  hoisting 
English  colours  and  firing  at  the  boat,  the  unhappy  Mr.  Lunt 
imagined  himself  mistaken,  landed,  and  was  made  prisoner. 
Thus  Captain  Jones  lost  from  the  crew  of  the  Bon  Homme 
Richard,  the  master  and  another  officer;  with  twenty  of  his 
best  seamen.  Mr.  Lunt  was  reconducted  to  a  wretched  dun- 
geon in  England,  where  he  formerly  had  long  experience  of 
English  cruelty,  from  whence,  it  is  reported,  he  was  at  last 
relieved  by  death."  The  cutter  was  not  subsequently  found  at 
the  first  or  second  rendezvous.  She  had  returned  to  France ; 
and  the  Grandville  having  secured  a  prize,  on  the  26th,  followed 
her  example.  The  evening  of  that  day  was  very  stormy;  and, 
against  his  own  judgment,  as  he  says,  but  in  consequence  of 
assertions  made  by  Landais,  he  left  a  station  where  he  would 
have  preferred  remaining  a  week  longer.  In  his  Journal  for 
the  King,  he  says,  "  it  was  his  intention  to  cruise  ofFthe  south 
west  coast  of  Ireland  for  twelve  or  fifteen  days,  in  order  to  inter- 
rupt the  enemy's  homeward  bound  East  India  ships,  that  he  had 
been  informed  from  England  would  return  without  convoy,  and 
steer  for  that  point  of  land.  But  Captain  Landais  of  the 
Alliance  began  to  speak  and  act  as  though  he  had  not  been 
under  the  command  of  Captain  Jones  ;  and  made  great  objec- 
tions to  remaining  on  that  coast,  expressing  apprehension,  that 
the  enemy  would  send  a  superior  force."  Jones  made  the 
signal  for  the  course,  and  steered  to  the  northward  ;  but  Cap- 
tain Landais  chose  to  alter  his  course  two  points  by  the  compass, 


*  See  Appendix  No.  VIII. 

21 


170  PAUL  JONES. 

on  the  same  night,  and  was  not  seen  again  until  the  31st,  when 
he  rejoined  the  squadron  with  a  Letter  of  Marque,  which  he 
had  taken,  of  20  guns,  bound  from  Liverpool  for  Jamaica,  with 
a  valuable  cargo.  He  appeared  in  sight  while  Jones  was  giving 
chase  to  another  Letter  of  Marque,  off  cape  Wrath,  which 
proved  to  be  the  Union,  of  22  guns,  from  London  for  Quebec, 
with  a  cargo  of  great  value  ;  consisting  of  sails,  rigging,  anchors, 
cables,  &c.  for  the  enemy's  vessels  on  the  lakes.  Neither  of 
these  vessels  made  any  resistance.  Owing  to  Landais  hoisting 
American  colours,  though  English  were  flying  on  board  the  Bon 
Homme  Richard,  the  public  despatches  on  board  the  Union 
were  lost.  Landais  sent  a  quaint  message,  to  know  whether 
Jones  or  he  should  man  the  prize ;  as,  in  the  latter  case,  he 
would  suffer  no  boat  nor  person  from  the  Bon  Homme  Richard 
to  go  near  her.  Ridiculous  as  this  was,  Jones  says  he  yielded 
to  it  for  the  sake  of  peace,  and  received  the  prisoners  on  board 
his  ship,  while  the  prize  was  manned  from  the  Alliance.  On 
the  same  afternoon,  and  on  the  next  morning,  Landais  refused 
to  obey  Jones'  signals,  and  on  the  3d  of  September  acted  in 
direct  opposition  to  his  orders,  in  relation  to  the  two  prizes  he 
had  been  ordered  to  bring  to  the  rendezvous.  He  sent  them  to 
Bergen  in  Norway,  where  they  were  given  up  to  the  English 
by  the  Danish  government.  In  the  evening  of  the  4th,  the  com- 
modore sent  for  the  captains  to  come  on  board  of  his  ship,  to 
consult  on  future  operations.  Landais  refused  to  comply,  and 
sent  back  several  uncivil  messages,  and  an  extraordinary  letter. 
Mr.  Mease,  the  purser,  a  very  gallant  man,  at  first  alone,  and 
subsequently  with  Captain  Cottineau  and  M.  Chamillard,  in  vain 
went  on  board  of  the  Alliance,  to  intercede  with  the  doughty 
sea  Achilles.  He  "  spoke  of  Captain  Jones  in  terms  highly 
disrespectful  and  insolent ;  and  said  he  would  see  him  on  shore, 
when  they  must  kill  one  or  the  other,  &c."  On  the  night  of 
the  6th,  (in  the  words  of  the  epitaph  on  a  tablet  erected  to  him 
in  one  of  the  New  York  churches,)  '  il  disparut.'  A  gale  com- 
menced blowing  on  the  afternoon  of  the  5th,  which  continued 


PAUL   JONES.  171 

for  some  days,  and  Landais  separated  from  his  consorts  witn 
two  small  prizes  which  he  had  picked  up.  The  Pallas  and 
Vengeance  alone  remained  with  the  Bon  Homme  Richard ;  and 
the  winds  continued  contrary,  so  that  land  was  not  seen  until 
the  evening  of  the  13th,  when  the  Cheviot  hills  in  the  south 
east  of  Scotland  became  visible.  Jones  proceeds  to  say  in  his 
Journal :  "  Though  much  weakened  and  embarrassed  with 
prisoners,  he  was  anxious  to  teach  the  enemy  humanity,  by 
some  exemplary  stroke  of  retaliation,  and  to  relieve  the  remain- 
der of  the  Americans  from  captivity  in  England,  as  well  as  to 
make  a  diversion  in  the  north,  to  favour  a  formidable  descent 
which  he  then  expected  would  have  been  made  on  the  south 
side  of  Great  Britain,  under  cover  of  the  great  combined  fleet. 
He  sent  for  the  captains  of  the  Pallas  and  Vengeance,  and  com- 
municated to  them  his  intentions ;  but  after  spending  the  whole 
night,  all  his  arguments  on  the  side  of  honour  and  humanity 
failed.  He  then  spoke  to  their  ruling  passion,  and  showed  them 
a  large  heap  of  gold,  at  the  end  of  the  prospect.  He  was  now 
heard  with  attention ;  and  they  entered  warmly  into  his  project, 
which  was,  to  lay  Leith,  and  perhaps  Edinburgh,  under  a  con- 
tribution." He  was  apprized  that  an  armed  ship  of  20  guns 
and  two  or  three  fine  cutters  lay  in  Leith  road ;  and,  had  he  been 
alone,  he  says,  "  the  wind  being  favourable,  I  would  have  pro- 
ceeded directly  up  the  Firth,  and  must  have  succeeded  ;  as  they 
lay  there  in  a  state  of  perfect  indolence  and  security,  which 
would  have  proved  their  ruin.  Unfortunately  for  me,  the  Pallas 
and  Vengeance  were  both  at  a  considerable  distance  in  the 
offing ;  they  having  chased  to  the  southward ;  this  obliged  us 
to  steer  out  of  the  Firth  again  to  meet  them." 

The  prospect  of  levying  £200,000  upon  the  inhabitants 
of  Leith  having  prevailed  upon  the  French  Commanders  to 
assent  to  the  enterprise,  every  order  was  given  for  taking  the 
guard  ship  and  cutters,  and  every  disposition  made  for  landing 
troops  under  Lieutenant  Colonel  Chamillard.  The  summons 
to  the  magistrates  of  Leith,  and  the  capitulation  they  were  to 


172  PAUL   JONES'. 

sign  were  prepared  ;*  but  "  so  much  time  had  been  unavoidably 
spent  in  pointed  remarks,  and  sage  deliberations,  that  night, 
that  the  wind  became  contrary  in  the  morning." 

The  following  note  in  his  own  hand  writing,  is  subjoined  to  a 
copy  of  this  summons.  "  N.  B.  The  sudden  and  violent  storm 
which  arose  in  the  moment  when  the  squadron  was  abreast  of 


*  "  The  Honourable  Captain  Jones,  Commander  in  Chief  of  the  Ameri- 
can squadron  now  in  Europe,  on  board  the  American  ship  of  war 
the  Bon  Homme  Richard,  at  anchor  in  the  road  of  Leith,  Septem- 
ber the  — ,  1779. 

"  To  the  Worshipful  the  Provost  of  Leith,  or,  in  his  absence,  to  the 
Chief  Magistrate  who  is  now  actually  present  and  in  authority  there. 
"  Sir — The  British  marine  force  that  has  been  stationed  here  for 
the  protection  of  your  city  and  commerce,  being  now  taken  by  the  Amer- 
ican arms  under  my  command,  I  have  the  honour  to  send  you  this  by 
my  officer,  Lieutenant  Colonel  de  Chamillard,  who  commands  the 
vanguard  of  my  troops.  I  do  not  wish  to  distress  the  poor  inhabitants ; 
my  intention  is  only  to  demand  your  contribution  towards  the  reim- 
bursement which  Britain  owes  to  the  much  injured  citizens  of  America. 
Savages  would  blush  at  the  unmanly  violation  and  rapacity  that  has 
marked  the  tracks  of  British  tyranny  in  America,  from  which  neither 
virgin  innocence,  nor  helpless  age  has  been  a  plea  of  protection  or  pity. 
"  Leith  and  its  port  now  lays  at  our  mercy  ;  and  did  not  the  plea  of 
humanity  stay  the  hand  of  just  retaliation,  I  should,  without  advertise- 
ment, lay  it  in  ashes.  Before  I  proceed  to  that  stern  duty  as  an  officer, 
my  duty  as  a  man  induces  me  to  propose  to  you,  by  the  means  of  a 
reasonable  ransom,  to  prevent  such  a  scene  of  horror  and  distress.  For 
this  reason  I  have  authorized  Lieutenant  Colonel  de  Camillard  to  con- 
clude and  agree  with  you  on  the  terms  of  ransom,  allowing  you  exactly 
half  an  hour's  reflection  before  you  finally  accept  or  reject  the  terms 
which  he  shall  propose. 

"  If  you  accept  the  terms  offered,  within  the  time  limited,  you  may 
rest  assured  that  no  farther  debarkation  of  troops  will  be  made,  but 
that  the  re-embarkation  of  the  vanguard  will  immediately  follow,  and 
that  the  property  of  the  citizens  shall  remain  unmolested. 

"  I  have  the  honour  to  be,  &c." 


PAUL   JONES.  173 

Keith  Island,  (Inchkeith  Island,)  which  forms  the  entrance  of 
the  road  of  Leith,  rendered  impracticable  the  execution  of  the 
foregoing  project."  Jones  did  not,  however,  abandon  readily 
what  he  had  so  resolutely  undertaken,  notwithstanding  he  must 
have  been  aware,  as  was  the  fact,  that  the  alarm  had  become 
general  on  the  shore,  and  in  the  interior.*  An  express  reached 


*  The  following  extracts  from  English  newspapers  may  not  be  uninteresting. 

From  the  London  Chronicle  of  September  2d,  1779. 

"  Yesterday  an  express  arrived  with  an  account,  that  the  famous  Paul  Jones,  (who 
some  time  since  plundered  the  house  of  the  Earl  of  Selkirk  on  the  coast  of  Scotland, 
and  endeavoured  to  set  fire  to  the  town  of  Whitehaven,  and  after  an  obstinate  engage- 
ment took  the  Drake  sloop  of  war)  has  made  his  appearance  on  our  coasts  with  three 
ships  of  force  under  his  command.  Being  in  want  of  provisions  and  fresh  water,  he 
landed  a  number  of  men,  who  carried  off  a  parcel  of  sheep  and  oxen,  for  which  he 
bountifully  paid  the  owners,  and  immediately  weighed  anchor,  without  committing 
any  sort  of  hostility  on  the  inhabitants.  The  drift  und  intention  of  this  adventurer  is 
to  intercept  our  linen  ships,  and  to  watch  for  some  of  the  East  India  fleet,  that  are 
daily  expected  to  touch  at  Cork.  His  orders,  it  sonms,  are  to  keep  close  to  the  shore, 
and  look  into  our  ports,  to  give  intelligence  of  our  situation  to  the  united  fleets.  The 
above  came  express  from  Dublin  to  London,  dated  28th  of  August,  1779." 

From  the  London  Chronicle  of  September  12th,  1779. 

"  The  American  squadron  which  sailed  from  Brest  about  the  15th  July,  under  the 
command  of  Paul  Jones,  consists  of  one  frigate  of  40  guns,  mounted  on  one  deck,  two 
32  gun  frigates,  two  Salem  privateers  of  18  and  20  guns,  and  a  tender  of  10  guns.  The 
purpose  of  this  squadron  is  to  intercept  the  victuallers  from  Cork  for  North  America. 
They  have  already  taken  two  provision  ships  to  New  York,  several  trading  vessels, 
and  have  much  alarmed  the  coasts  of  Ireland." 

From  the  same  paper  of  September  14tA,  1779. 

"  Extract  of  a  letter  from  Cork,  August  25th,  1779. — We  have  this  morning  received 
an  express  from  Tralee,  acquainting  us  that  the  coast  officer  at  Inveragh  had  advised 
them,  that  on  the  23d,  in  the  morning,  seven  men  landed  there  from  an  open  boat, 
who  said  they  had  escaped  the  preceding  night,  from  a  ship  belonging  to  the  squadron 
of  Paul  Jones,  which  sailed  from  France  on  the  10th  instant,  where  they  had  supplied 
themselves  with  a  large  quantity  of  combustibles.  They  had  taken  four  prizes,  one 
of  which  was  called  the  May  Flower,  bound  to  London.  At  one  o'clock  the  same  day, 
17  men  more  landed  at  that  place,  supposed  to  be  in  pursuit  of  the  above  seven.  The 
squadron  lay  at  the  Skellix,  in  full  view,  and  the  country  was  in  an  uproar,  when  the 
advices  came  away.  The  first  men  who  landed,  said,  that  Jones'  intention  was  to 
scour  the  coast,  and  burn  as  many  places  as  he  could.  There  were  anumber  of  French 
on  board. 


174  PAUL   JONES. 

Edinburgh  on  the  15th,  announcing  that  three  strange  ships 
were  seen  off  Eyemouth  on  the  afternoon  of  the  preceding  day ; 
and  that  a  ship,  supposed  to  mount  40  or  50  guns,  had  been 
seen  off  Dunbar.  At  5  P.  M.  on  the  15th,  they  were  distinctly 
seen  from  Edinburgh,  sailing  up  the  Frith  of  Forth  ;  but  whether 
they  were  French  vessels,  or  the  squadron  of  Paul  Jones,  was 
not  ascertained.  Batteries  were  hastily  erected  at  Leith,  and 
the  trades  petitioned  for  arms,  which  were  supplied  from  the 
castle  of  Edinburgh.  So  runs  the  oft  told  story  which  I  tran- 
scribe. Jones  says :  "We  continued  working  to  windward  up 
the  Frith  without  being  able  to  reach  the  road  of  Leith,  till  on 
the  morning  ef  the  17th,  when,  being  almost  within  cannon  shot 
of  the  town,  having  every  thing  in  readiness  for  a  descent,  a 
very  severe  gale  of  wind  came  on,  and  being  directly  contrary, 
obliged  us  to  bear  away,  after  having  in  vain  endeavoured  for 
some  time  to  withstand  its  violence.  The  gale  was  so  severe, 
that  one  of  the  prizes  that  had  been  taken  on  the  14th  sunk  to 
the  bottom,  the  crew  being  with  difficulty  saved.  As  the  alarm 
by  this  time  had  reached  Leith,  by  means  of  a  cutter  that  had 
watched  our  motions  that  morning,  and  as  the  wind  continued 
contrary,  (though  more  moderate  in  the  evening,)  I  thought  it 


"  Dublin,  August  27th. — I  am  directed  forthwith  to  make  this  intelligence  known  in 
the  most  extensive  manner,  that  all  persons,  particularly  those  resident  on  the  coast, 
may  be  on  their  guard  to  repel  any  hostility. 

"  By  order  of  the  Commissioners, 
r  "  Jos.  L'EsxRANGE,  Dep.  Coll." 

From  the  Hibernian  Journal  of  September  1st. 

"  Custom  House,  Dublin,  August  27th. — Sir  Richard  Herron,  by  direction  of  his 
Excellency  the  Lord  Lieutenant,  has  communicated  to  the  board  intelligence  which 
his  Excellency  has  received,  that  on  the  24th  instant,  at  1  o'clock,  seven  men  landed 
at  Ballinskellix  in  the  county  of  Kerry,  from  a  frigate  called  the  Bon  Homme,  com- 
manded by  Paul  Jones,  mounting  40  guns,  having  in  company  the  Alliance  of  36,  the 
Pallas  of  32,  the  Revenge  of  12,  the  Le  Grand  of  14,  and  a  large  Cutter  of  18  guns, 
having  on  board  in  all  about  2,000  men.  The  people  imagine  that  Jones'  intentions 
are  to  scour  the  coast,  and  burn  some  principal  towns,  having  a  quantity  of  combusti- 
bles shipped  on  board  the  vessels  in  France. 

"JOS.  L'ESTRANGE,  Dep.  Coll." 


PAUL   JONES.  175 

impossible  to  pursue  the  enterprise  with  a  good  prospect  of  suc- 
cess ;  especially  as  Edinburgh,  where  there  is  always  a  number 
of  troops,  is  only  a  mile  distant  from  Leith ;  therefore,  I  gave 
up  the  project." 

An  incident  which  showed  how  much  the  spectators  on  shore 
were  yet  in  the  dark,  occurred  on  the  16th,  which  Jones  thus 
relates  in  his  Journal :  "A  member  of  the  British  Parliament 
sent  off  a  boat  from  the  north  shore,  to  give  information  that 
he  was  greatly  afraid  of  Paul  Jones,  and  begging  for  some 
powder  and  shot.  Captain  Jones  set  his  fears  to  rest,  by  send- 
ing him  a  barrel  of  powder  with  a  kind  message,  but  had  no 
suitable  shot"  The  principal  messenger  he  detained,  as  pilot 
for  the  road  of  Leith.  It  appears  that  he  also  employed  the 
captain  of  a  small  collier,  taken  on  the  15th,  to  assist  him  by 
his  knowledge  of  the  coast ;  and  when  he  afterwards  abandoned 
the  enterprise,  he  gave  this  man  up  his  Vessel,  "  on  account  of 
his  attachment  to  America,  and  the  faithful  information  and 
important  services  he  rendered,  by  his  general  knowledge  of 
the  east  coast  of  Britain.  I  had  given  orders  to  sink  the  old 
vessel,  when  the  tears  of  this  honest  man  prevailed  over  my 
intention."* 


*  The  following  notes  are  from  the  Edinburgh  Life.  "  This  '  honest  man/  but  very 
bad  patriot,  was  Andrew  Robertson,  master  of  the  Friendship,  of  Kirkcaldy.  After 
being  for  two  days  kept  on  board  the  Bon  Homme  Richard,  and  having  his  ship  given 
up  to  him  for  'faithful  information,'  and  'important  services,'  he  pretended  that 
Commodore  Jones  had  put  it  to  ransom.  This,  indeed,  was  the  face  necessary  to  put 
on  the  affair ;  but  the  Commodore  had  previously  declared  that  he  had  no  authority  to 
ransom  prizes.  The  ransom-passport  is  amusing,  from  its  date,  and  the  circumstances 
under  which  it  was  granted.  It  is  written  by  a  French  marine  officer,  who  probably 
acted  as  the  secretary  of  Commodore  Jones,  but  is  signed  by  himself. 
"  '  L'Honorable  Capitaine  John  Paul  Jones,  Ecnyer,  commandant  en  chef  1'escadre 

Americaine  actuellement  en  Europe, 
"  '  A  tous  ceux  qui  ces  presentes  verront,  specialement  les  sujets  de  la  France : 

"  '  Je  certifie  par  le  present  passeport,  que  le  vaisseau  Friendship,  commande  par 
Andre  Robertson,  du  port  de  Kirkcaldy,  et  venant  du  dit  lieu  pour  aller  a  Riga,  a  ete 
pris  par  1'escadre  Americaine  que  je  commande,  et  qu'il  est  ransonne  :  C'est  pour- 
quoi  je  prie  et  requiers  tous  les  sujets  de  la  France  ct  de  1'Amerique,  de  laisser  libre- 


176  PAUL   JONES. 

Thus  were  the  good  citizens  of  Leith  preserved  from  the 
necessity  of  opening  their  coffers,  when  two  tacks  more  would 
have  brought  Jones  along  side  the  enemy  in  the  road.  He 
would  not  yet  give  up  the  design  of  effecting  some  enterprise  of 
pith  upon  the  coast.  He  treated  the  humours  of  the  wind,  as 
policy  and  necessity  compelled  him  to  treat  those  of  his  absent 
associate,  Landais ;  and,  as  soon  as  the  gale  abated,  he  en- 
deavoured to  prevail  on  the  Captains  of  the  Pallas  and  Ven- 
geance to  co-operate.  But  these  gentlemen  did  not  like  the 
"  glory"  they  had  got,  the  gale,  or  the  preparation  on  shore. 
It  is  surmised  by  the  writer  of  Jones'  Life,  published  in  Edin- 
burgh, that  he  had  designs  upon  Hull  or  Newcastle.  It  is, 
however,  a  mere  matter  of  conjecture.  M.  Cottineau  told  him, 
that  a  superior  force  would  be  sent  against  him  ;  and  that,  if  he 
continued  two  days  longer  on  the  coast,  they  would  all  be  taken. 
Being  aware,  by  some  means,  which  Jones  ascribed  to  the  com- 


ment passer  le  dit  vaisseau  Friendship,  et  continuer  son  voyage,  sans  le  trembler  en 
fa?on  quelconque. 

" '  Dorme  a  la  mer  a  bord  du  Bon  Homme  Richard,  le  dix-sept  Septembre,  mil  sept 
cent  soixante  dix-neuf. 

"  'J.  PAUL  JONES.'  " 

"  The  prodigious  sensation  caused  by  the  appearance  of  the  squadron  of  Paul  Jones 
in  the  Frith  of  Forth  is  hardly  yet  forgotten  on  the  coast  of  Fife.  There  are  various 
accounts  of  the  manner  in  which  this  daring  attempt  was  defeated.  The  17th  Sep- 
tember, when  Jones  advanced  to  Leith,  happened  to  be  a  Sunday.  His  ship,  the 
Bon  Homme  Richard,  stood  at  times  so  near  the  northern  shores  as  to  be  distinctly 
seen  by  the  crowds  assembled  on  the  beach,  and  on  the  commanding  heights  in  the 
neighbourhood.  At  one  time  the  Bon  Homme  Richard  was  not  more  than  a  mile  from 
Kirkealdy,  a  thriving  and  wealthy  seaport.  The  alarm  was  naturally  very  great  in 
that  town ;  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Shirra,  a  worthy  and  very  eccentric  dissenting  clergy- 
man, remarkable  for  his  quaint  humour,  instead  of  holding  forth  in  the  church  as  at 
ordinary  times,  where  on  this  day  he  would  have  had  but  a  thin  audience,  repaired  to 
the  fine  level  sandy  beach  of  Kirkealdy,  and  soon  attracted  a  very  numerous  congre 
gation.  Here  he  prayed  most  fervently  and  earnestly,  with  that  homely  and  familiar 
eloquence  by  which  his  sermons  and  prayers  were  distinguished,  that  the  enterprise 
of '  the  piratical  invader  Paul  Jones  might  be  defeated.'  For  once,  it  may  be  believed, 
the  hearts  of  a  congregation  went  with  their  minister.  That  violent  gale,  so  much 
lamented  by  Paul  Jones,  suddenly  arose  ;  the  alleged  consequence  of  Mr.  Shirra's 


PAUL  JONES  177 

municativeness  of  M.  Chaumont,  of  the  limitation  of  the  cruise, 
and  its  termination  at  the  Texel,  one  of  the  captains  informed  a 
lieutenant  of  the  Bon  Homme  Richard,  that  ".they  would  leave 
the  commodore  if  he  did  not  agree  to  steer  for  the  port  of  destina- 
tion." Setting  aside  the  question  of  subordination,  the  gallantry 
of  these  gentlemen  is  not  to  be  impeached.  They  felt  like  men 
attacking  in  the  dark  with  a  comparatively  ridiculous  force,  a 
fortress,  the  strength  of  which  they  had  reason  to  suppose  was 
great.  Jones  knew  the  weakness  of  some  of  the  outworks ; 
but  he  had  not  yet  had  opportunities  to  convince  them  of  his 
extraordinary  shrewdness,  local  information,  and  capacity  to 
execute  designs,  which,  to  them  appeared  visionary.  Their 
education,  (independent  of  their  national  feeling,  involving  per- 
sonal and  professional  pride,  not  unallied  to  captious  jealousy,) 
had  been  probably  selon  les  regies.  Jones  had  educated  himself, 
as  to  detail  j  and  had  learaed  from  Compte  D'Orvilliers  the 


powerful  intercession.  Such  was  long  the  popular  belief.  When,  in  after  periods, 
this  good  old  man  was  questioned  on  the  subject,  and  complimented  on  the  prevailing 
spirit  of  his  prayer,  which  had  so  opportunely  raised  the  wind  that  blew  off  Paul  Jones, 
his  usual  reply,  disclaiming  the  full  extent  of  the  compliment,  was,  '  I  prayed — but 
the  LORD  sent  the  wind.'  " 

[I  have  not  the  work  of  Mr.  Henderson,  a  tourist,  who  explored 
Scotland,  England,  and  Wales,  and  related  the  above  anecdote.  In 
an  extract  from  it,  in  Mr.  Sherburne's  Collections,  he  says,  the  incident 
took  place  in  the  preceding  year,  when  Jones  visited  Whitehaven,  from 
which  he  went  round  into  the  Frith  of  Forth ;  but  as  Jones  did  not  go 
there,  at  that  time,  the  tourist  is  in  error.] 

''  A  gentleman  writing  shortly  afterwards  from  Amsterdam,  to  his  friend  in  Leith, 
says :  '  You  may  count  it  a  very  fortunate  circumstance  that  this  gentleman  (Commo- 
dore Jones)  was  prevented  from  hurting  you,  when  he  was  in  your  Frith,  by  a  strong 
westerly  wind,  and  the  springing  of  a  mast,^s,  in  a  conversation  I  had  with  him  in  this 
city,  he  assured  me  that  his  intention  was  to  seize  the  shipping  in  the  harbour,  and  to 
set  fire  to  such  as  he  could  not  carry  off.  He  seemed  to  be  well  acquainted  with  the 
coast,  and  knew'  (thanks  to  '  honest'  Andrew  Robertson  !)  'that  there  was  no  force  to 
oppose  him.'  Jones  is  described  at  this  time,  by  those  who  saw  him,  as  being '  dressed 
in  the  American  uniform,  with  a  Scotch  bonnet,  edged  with  gold,  as  of  a  middling  sta- 
ture wern  countenance,  and  swarthy  complexion.'  " 

22 


178  PAUL   JONES. 

duties  of  a  commander  of  great  fleets.  With  his  force  at  that 
time,  provided  he  did  not  contravene  the  laws  of  Congress,  his 
own  moral  sense,-  or  what  would  seem  justifiable  in  the  eyes 
of  Dr.  Franklin,  he  was  not  particular  as  to  the  manner  in 
which  he  "  retaliated"  upon  the  enemy.  He  found  it,  however, 
necessary  to  yield  to  the  opposition  of  the  French  commanders. 
In  his  official  account,  he  says  :  "  I  am  persuaded  even  now, 
that  I  would  have  succeeded  ;  and  to  the  honour  of  my  young 
officers.,  I  found  them  as  ardently  disposed  to  the  business  as  I 
could  desire ;  nothing  prevented  me  from  pursuing  my  design 
but  the  reproach  that  would  have  been  cast  upon  my  character, 
as  a  man  of  prudence,  had  the  enterprise  miscarried.  It  would 
have  been  said,  "  was  he  not  forewarned  by  Captain  Cottineau 
and  others  ?" 

Many  coasters  and  colliers  were  taken,  several  of  which  were 
sunk,  by  the  squadron,  in  the  Frith  of  Forth.  Much  damage 
was  done  to  the  coal  trade  ;  but  it  is  unnecessary  to  weary  the 
reader  with  particulars.  Captain  Cottineau  undertook  to 
ransom  a  sloop,  though  Jones  had  told  him  previously  he  had 
no  authority  to  ransom  prizes.  It  was  probably  an  excusable 
act ;  and  the  commodore  does  not  subsequently  dwell  upon  it. 

And  now,  after  having  agonized  through  a  period  of  fifteen 
months,  during  which  hope  was  not  only  deferred,  but  crucified 
in  each  lunar  cycle  ;  after  having  set  sail  with  a  force  that 
mocked  all  the  promises  made  to  him,  in  an  old  ship,  fit  only  for 
a  great  sacrifice  by  which  her  rotten  timbers  might  be  eternized ; 
after  having  been  abandoned  by  half  of  his  squadron,  and  having 
taken  a  few  prizes,  of  which,  the  most  valuable  had  been  lost 
by  disobedience  and  caprice  ;  Captain  Jones  was  making  for 
the  Texel,  in  that  frame  of  mind  which  epic  poetry  may  attempt 
to  shadow  forth,  but  which  heroic  projectors  of  original  enter- 
prises, who  have  been  foiled  by  the  weakness  of  their  agents 
and  the  ever  varying  elements,  can  alone  understand.  He  felt, 
like  Buonaparte,  (I  know  not  whether  the  apologetical  pdrva 
componere  mapnis  be  indispensable,)  that  he  might  io  have  me.- 


PAUL   JOPES.  179 

ceeded.  He  had  not,  however ;  and  as  no  renown  awaits  the 
unsuccessful,  his  spirits  must  have  been  agitated  and  depressed 
— when  glory  "  fell  in  his  way,  and  he  found  it." 

The  battle  between  the  Bon  Homme  Richard  and  the 
Serapis,  must  always  be  told  to  disadvantage,  if  not  in  the  words 
of  the  conqueror.  It  was  fought  on  the  evening  and  in  the 
night  of  September  23d,  under  a  bright  and  beautiful  harvest 
moon,  and  its  issue  awaited  by  multitudes,  (thousands  it  is  said,) 
who  watched  the  engagement  from  the  shore.  The  remark 
often  made,  that  it  has  no  parallel  in  the  history  of  naval  en- 
gagements, has  no  exception  of  which  we  are  aware,  if  restricted 
to  those  between  ships  of  civilized  nations.  The  official  account 
of  Jones  follows. 

"  On  the  21st,  we  saw  and  chased  two  sail  off  Flamborough 
Head ;  the  Pallas  chased  in  the  N.  E.  quai'ter,  while  the  Bon 
Homme  Richard,  followed  by  the  Vengeance,  chased  in  the  S. 
W. ;  the  one  I  chased,  a  brigantine  collier  in  ballast,  belonging 
to  Scarborough,  was  soon  taken,  and  sunk  immediately  after- 
wards, as  a  fleet  then  appeared  to  the  southward.  This  was 
so  late  in  the  day,  that  I  could  not  come  up  with  the  fleet  before 
night ;  at  length,  however,  I  got  so  near  one  of  them  as  to  force 
her  to  run  ashore  between  Flamborough  Head  and  the  Spurn. 
Soon  after  I  took  another,  a  brigantine  from  Holland,  belonging 
to  Sunderland,  and  at  daylight  the  next  morning,  seeing  a  fleet 
steering  towards  me  from  the  Spurn,  I  imagined  them  to  be  a 
convoy  bound  from  London  for  Leith,  which  had  been  for  some 
time  expected.  One  of  them  had  a  pendant  hoisted,  and 
appeared  to  be  a  ship  of  force.  They  had  not,  howrever, 
courage  to  come  on,  but  kept  back,  all  except  the  one  which 
seemed  to  be  armed,  and  that  one  also  kept  to  the  windward, 
very  near  the  land,  and  on  the  edge  of  dangerous  shoals,  where 
[  could  not  with  safety  approach.  This  induced  me  to  make  a 
signal  for  a  pilot,  and  soon  afterwards  two  pilots'  boats  came 
off.  They  informed  me  that  a  ship  that  wore  a  pendant  was 


180  PAUL   JONES. 

an  armed  merchantman,  and  that  a  king's  frigate  lay  there  in 
sight,  at  anchor,  within  the  Humber,  waiting  to  take  under 
convoy  a  number  of  merchant  ships  bound  to  the  northward. 
The  pilots  imagined  the  Bon  Homme  Richard  to  be  an  English 
ship  of  war,  and  consequently  communicated  to  me  the  private 
signal  which  they  had  been  required  to  make.  I  endeavoured 
by  this  means  to  decoy  the  ships  out  of  the  port ;  but  the  wind 
then  changing,  and  with  the  tide,  becoming  unfavourable  for 
them,  the  deception  had  not  the  desired  effect,  and  they  wisely 
put  back.  The  entrance  of  the  Humber  is  exceedingly  difficult 
and  dangerous,  and  as  the  Pallas  was  not  in  sight,  I  thought  it 
imprudent  to  remain  off  the  entrance  ;  therefore  steered  out 
again  to  join  the  Pallas  off  Flamborough  Head.  In  the  night 
we  saw  and  chased  two  ships  until  three  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
when,  being  at  a  very  small  distance  from  them,  I  made  the 
private  signal  of  reconnoissance,  which  I  had  given  to  each 
captain  before  I  sailed  from  Groix  :  one  half  of  the  answer  only 
was  returned.  In  this  position  both  sides  lay  to  till  daylight, 
when  the  ships  proved  to  be  the  Alliance  and  the  Pallas. 

"  On  the  morning  of  that  day,  the  23d,  the  brig  from  Holland 
not  being  in  sight,  we  chased  a  brigantine  that  appeared  laying 
to,  to  windward.  About  noon,  we  saw  and  chased  a  large  ship 
that  appeared  coming  round  Flamborough  Head,  from  the 
northward,  and  at  the  same  time  I  manned  and  armed  one  of 
the  pilot  boats  to  send  in  pursuit  of  the  brigantine,  which  now 
appeared  to  be  the  vessel  that  I  had  forced  ashore.  Soon  after 
this,  a  fleet  of  forty-one  sail  appeared  off  Flamborough  Head, 
bearing  N.  N.  E.  This  induced  me  to  abandon  the  single  ship 
which  had  then  anchored  in  Burlington  Bay  ;  I  also  called  back 
the  pilot  boat,  and  hoisted  a  signal  for  a  general  chase.*  When 


*  This  pilot  boat  contained  sixteen  of  the  best  hands  on  board  the  Bon  Homme 
Richard,  well  armed,  under  the  command  of  Mr.  Henry  Lunt,  the  second  Lieuteuant. 
She  did  not  pay  ready  attention  to  signals,  which  obliged  Jones  to  remain  to  windward 
some  time  after  he  had  made  the  signals  to  chase  the  fleet.  When  the  Serapis  and 
Con  -:tess  of  Scarborough  stood  from  the  shore,  Jones  crowded  all  sail  to  overtake 


PAUL   JONES.  181 

the  fleet  discovered  us  bearing  down,  all  the  merchant  ships 
crowded  sail  towards  the  shore.  The  two  ships  of  war  that 
protected  the  fleet  at  the  same  time  steered  from  the  land,  and 
made  the  disposition  for  battle.  In  approaching  the  enemy,  I 
crowded  every  possible  sail,  and  made  the  signal  for  the  line  of 
battle,  to  which  the  Alliance  showed  no  attention.  Earnest  as 
I  was  for  the  action,  I  could  not  reach  the  commodore's  ship 
until  seven  in  the  evening,*  being  then  within  pistol  shot,  when 
he  hailed  the  Bon  Homme  Richard.  We  answered  him  by 
firing  a  whole  broadside. 

"  The  battle  being  thus  begun,  was  continued  with  unremit- 
ting fury.  Every  method  was  practised  on  both  sides  to  gain 
an  advantage,  and  rake  each  other ;  and  I  must  confess  that 
the  enemy's  ship,  being  much  more  manageable  than  the  Bon 
Homme  Richard,  gained  thereby  several  times  an  advantageous 
situation,  in  spite  of  my  best  endeavours  to  prevent  it.  As  I 
had  fo  deal  with  an  enemy  of  greatly  superior  force,  I  was  under 


them,  leaving  the  Vengeance  to  windward,  with  orders  to  bring  down  the  pilot  boat  as 
fast  as  possible,  and  tell  Lieutenant  Lunt  to  board  the  Bon  Homme  Richard,  and 
enter  the  men  on  the  left  side,  after  the  action  was  begun,  if  he  could  not  previously 
overtake  her.  The  Vengeance  was  ordered  to  do  what  she  could,  either  by  assisting 
in  the  battle,  or  taking  and  destroying  the  merchant  ships.  She,  however,  attempted 
nothing  against  the  convoy  and  did  not  come  into  the  action.  The  pilot  boat  did  not 
approach  the  Bon  Homme  Richard,  until  after  the  battle  was  ended.  So  that,  with 
the  men  lost  on  the  coast  of  Ireland,  and  sent  away  in  the  prizes,  Jones  was  weakly 
manned,  and  thinly  officered. — Journal  for  the  King.  Lieutenant  Lunt,  says  in  his 
certificate,  that  he  could  not  approach  the  B.  H.  R.  until  the  action  was  raging ;  when, 
it  being  night,  he  did  not  think  it  prudent  to  go  alongside. 

*  "  As  soon  as  it  was  night,  the  enemy  tacked,  and  steered  with  full  sail  towards 
the  shore.  Captain  Jones,  seeing  this  motion  by  the  help  of  his  night  glass,  (for  the 
moon  was  not  yet  risen,)  made  the  necessary  disposition,  and  altered  his  course  to  get 
between  the  enemy  and  the  land.  The  captain  of  the  Pallas,  seeing  the  Bon  Homme 
Richard  alter  her  course,  concluded  that  the  crew  had  revolted,  and  killed  Captain 
Jones.  This  idea  had  long  prevailed  in  the  squadron,  and  the  Pallas  in  consequence 
hauled  close  by  the  wind.  Captain  Jones  found  the  Alliance  lying  to,  out  of  cannon 
shot,  on  the  enemy's  weather  quarter.  The  enemy,  having  every  sail  set,  would  have 
esr.aped  and  got  under  Scarborough  castle,  had  not  Captain  Jones  crossed  the  bow  of 
tk-3  Serapis,  and  begun  the  action  within  pistol  shot." — Journal  for  the  King. 


182  PAUL   JONES. 

the  necessity  of  closing  with  him,  to  prevent  the  advantage 
which   he   had  over  me  in   point  of  manreuvre.     It  was  my 
intention  to  lay  the  Bon  Homme  Richard  athwart  the  enemy's 
bow;  but  as  that  operation  required  great  dexterity  in  the 
management  of  both  sails  and  helm,  and  some  of  our  braces 
being  shot  away,  it  did  not  exactly  succeed  to  my  wish.     The 
enemy's  bowsprit,  however,  came  over  the  Bon  Homme  Rich- 
ard's poop  by  the  mizen-mast,  -and   I  made  both  ships  fast 
together  in  that  situation,*  which,  by  the  action  of  the  wind  on 
the  enemy's  sails,t  forced  her  stern  close  to  the  Bon  Homme 
Richard's  bow,  so  that  the  ships  lay  square  alongside  of  each 
other,  the  yards  being  all  entangled,  and  the  cannon  of  each 
ship  touching  the  opponent's-!   When  this  position  took  place,  it 
was  eight  o'clock,  previous  to  which  the  Bon  Homme  Richard 
had  received  sundry  eighteen-pound  shots  below  the  water,  and 
leaked  very  much.     My  battery  of  twelve-pounders,  on  which 
I  had  placed  my  chief  dependence,  being  commanded  by  Lieu- 
tenant Dale  and  Colonel  Weibert,  and  manned  principally  with 
American  seamen  and  French  volunteers,  was  entirely  silenced 
and  abandoned.     As  to  the   six  old  eighteen-pounders   that 
formed  the  battery  of  the  lower  gun-deck,  they  did  no  service 


*  "  Mr.  Stacy"  (the  acting  master,)  "  not  having  returned  with  the  hawser,  Captain 
Jones  with  his  own  hands  made  fast  to  the  mizen-mast  of  the  B.  H.  R.  the  ropes  that 
hung  from  the  enemy's  bowsprit." — Journal  for  the  King." 

t  "  The  Captain  of  the  Serapis,  imputing  the  position  of  the  two  ships  to  accident, 
let  fall  an  anchor  from  the  larboard  bow ;  fearing  that  Captain  Jones  would  rake  him, 
and  expecting  to  get  disentangled,  and  thereby  recover  his  superiority." — Ib.  See  also 
Lieutenant  Dale's  account,  post. 

t  "  Here  the  enemy  attempted  to  board  the  Bon  Homme  Richard,  but  were  deterred 
from  it,  on  finding  Captain  Jones  with  a  pike  in  his  hand  at  the  gangway,  ready  to 
receive  them.  They  imagined  he  had,  as  they  said, '  a  large  corps  de  reserve ;'  which 
was  a  fortunate  mistake ;  as  no  man  took  up  a  pike  but  himself." — Journal  for  the  King. 
Captain  Pearson  speaks  in  his  official  account,  of  an  attempt  to  board,  at  a  later  period 
of  the  action ,  after  the  carpenter  had  called  for  quarter.  The  boarders  returned,  say- 
ing they  had  discovered  a  superior  number,  laying  under  cover,  with  pikes  in  their 
hands,  ready  to  receive  them.  Probably  both  commanders  refer  to  the  same  incident 
and  the  concealed  men,  were  the  imaginary  corps  de  reserve. 


PAUL  JONES.  183 

whatever,  except  firing  eight  shot  in  all.  Two  out  of  three  of 
them  burst  at  the  first  fire,  and  killed  almost  all  the  men  who 
were  stationed  to  manage  them.  Before  this  time,  too,  Colonel 
de  Chamillard,  who  commanded  a  party  of  twenty  soldiers  on 
the  poop,  had  abandoned  that  station  after  having  lost  some  of 
his  men.  I  had  now  only  two  pieces  of  cannon,  (nine-pounders,) 
on  the  quarter-deck,  that  were  not  silenced,  and  not  one  of  the 
heavier  cannon  was  fired  during  the  rest  of  the  action.  The 
purser,  M.  Mease,  who  commanded  the  guns  on  the  quarter- 
deck, being  dangerously  wounded  in  the  head,  I  was  obliged  to 
fill  his  place,  and  with  great  difficulty  rallied  a  few  men,  and 
shifted  over  one  of  the  lee  quarter-deck  guns,  so  that  we  after- 
wards played  three  pieces  of  nine-pounders  upon  the  enemy. 
The  tops  alone  seconded  the  fire  of  this  little  battery,  and  held 
out  bravely  during  the  whole  of  the  action,  especially  the  main- 
top, where  Lieutenant  Stack  commanded.  I  directed  the  fire 
of  one  of  the  three  cannon  against  the  main-mast,  with  double- 
headed  shot,  while  the  other  two  were  exceedingly  well  served 
with  grape  and  canister  shot,  to  silence  the  enemy's  musketry 
and  clear  her  decks,  which  was  at  last  effected.  The  enemy 
were,  as  I  have  since  understood,  on  the  instant  of  calling  for 
quarter,  when  the  cowardice  or  treachery  of  three  of  my  under- 
officers  induced  them  to  call  to  the  enemy.  The  English  com- 
modore asked  me  if  I  demanded  quarter,  and  I  having  an- 
swered him  in  the  most  determined  negative,  they  renewed  the 
battle  with  double  fury.  They  were  unable  to  stand  the  deck  ; 
but  the  fire  of  their  cannon,  especially  the  lower  battery,  which 
was  entirely  formed  of  ten-pounders,  was  incessant ;  both  ships 
were  set  on  fire  in  various  places,  and  the  scene  was  dreadful 
beyond  the  reach  of  language.  To  account  for  the  timidity  of 
my  three  under-officers,  I  mean,  the  gunner,  the  carpenter,  and 
the  master-at-arms,  I  must  observe,  that  the  two  first  were 
slightly  wounded,  and,  as  the  ship  had  received  various  shot 
under  water,  and  one  of  the  pumps  being  shot  away,  the  car- 
penter expressed  his  fears  that  she  would  sink,  and  the  other 
two  concluded  that  she  was  sinking,  which  occasioned  the  gun- 


184  PAUL   JONES. 

ner  to  run  aft  on  the  poop,  without  my  knowledge,  to  strike  the 
colours.  Fortunately  for  me,  a  cannon  ball  had  done  that 
before,  by  carrying  away  the  ensign-staff;  he  was  therefore 
reduced  to  the  necessity  of  sinking,  as  he  supposed,  or  of  calling 
for  quarter,  and  he  preferred  the  latter. 

"  All  this  time  the  Bon  Homme  Richard  had  sustained  the 
action  alone,  and  the  enemy,  though  much  superior  in  force, 
would  have  been  very  glad  to  have  got  clear,  as  appears  by 
their  own  acknowledgments,  and  by  their  having  let  go  an 
anchor  the  instant  that  I  laid  them  on  board,  by  which  means 
tliey  would  have  escaped,  had  I  not  made  them  well  fast  to  the 
Bon  Homme  Richard. 

"  At  last,  at  half  past  nine  o'clock,  the  Alliance  appeared,  and 
I  now  thought  the  battle  at  an  end  ;  but,  to  my  utter  astonish- 
ment, he  discharged  a  broadside  full  into  the  stern  of  the  Bon 
Homme  Richard.*  We  called  to  him  for  God's  sake  to  forbear 


*  In  the  Journal  for  the  King,  it  is  said,  that  when  the  Alliance  appeared  for  the 
first  time,  after  the  beginning  of  the  action,  she  fired  a  broadside  with  grape  shot  "  into 
the  bow  of  the  Bon  Homme  Richard,  and  the  stern  of  the  Serapis,  which  then  made 
but  one  small  object."  Jones  alludes  in  the  text  to  her  second  appearance,  when,  after 
Landais  had  paid  a  visit  to  Captain  Cottineau,  who  had  captured  the  Pallas,  at  the 
urgent  request  of  the  latter,  that  he  would  either  go  to  assist  the  B.  H.  R.  'or  remain  to 
take  .care  of  the  prize,  he  "  got  into  a  position  to  rake  with  a  second  broadside  the  Bon 
Homme  Richard  and  Serapis ;  the  first  in  the  stern,  the  other  in  the  bow."  It  was  then 
they  cried  out  to  him  for  God's  sake  to  stop,  &c.  "  Jones  begged  Landais  to  cease 
firing,  or  to  lay  the  Bon  Homme  Richard  along  side,  and  assist  with  some  men  from 
the  Alliance.  He  disobeyed.  Having  passed  along  the  off  side  of  the  B.  H.  R.  he 
was  again  absent  for  some  time,  and  then  returned,  in  a  position  to  rake  her  the  third 
time.  He  discharged  this  last  broadside  into  the  stern  of  the  Serapis,  and  head  of  the 
Bon  Homme  Richard." — Journal  for  the  King.  Captain  Pearson  speaks  in  general 
terms  of  the  Alliance  sailing  round,  during  the  whole  action,  and  raking  him 
fore  and  aft,  and  eventually  determining  him  to  strike,  by  coming  across  his  stern 
and  pouring  in  a  broadside.  The  weight  of  evidence  is,  that  the  Alliance  fired 
only  three  broadsides  altogether,  within  gun  shot.  The  charges  against  Landais, 
from  13  to  21  inclusive,  well  attested  by  all  tb?  officers  on  board  the  Bon  Homme 
Richard,  and  corroborated  by  the  Captains  of  the  Pallas  and  Vengeance,  and  by  Lieu- 
tenant Lnnt,  who  was  in  the  pilot  boat,  confirm  the  above  statement.  The  18th  states, 
that  "  he  never  passed  on  the  offside  of  the  Serapis,  nor  could  that  ship  bring  a  gun  to 
bear  on  the  Alliance,  at  any  time  during  the  engagement."  Captain  Pearson  only  speaks 
of  being  "  raked,"  and  having  a  broadside  poured  into  his  stern.  The  shot  received 


PAUL   JONES.  185 

firing  into  the  Bon  Homme  Richard  ;  yet  they  passed  along  the 
off  side  of  the  ship,  and  continued  firing.  There  was  no  possi- 
bility of  his  mistaking  the  enemy's  ship  for  the  Bon  Homme 
Richard,  there  being  the  most  essential  difference  in  their 
appearance  and  construction.  Besides,  it  was  then  full  moon 
light,  and  the  sides  of  the  Bon  Homme  Richard  were  all  black, 
while  the  sides  of  the  prize  were  all  yellow.  Yet,  for  the  greater 
security,  I  showed  the  signal  of  our  reconnoissance,  by  putting 
out  three  lanterns,  one  at  the  head,  another  at  the  stern,  arid 
tne  third  in  the  middle,  in  a  horizontal  line.  Every  tongue 
cried  that  he  was  firing  into  the  wrong  ship,  but  nothing  avail- 
ed ;  he  passed  round,  firing  into  the  Bon  Homme  Richard's 
head,  stern,  and  broadside,  and  by  one  of  his  volleys  killed 
several  of  my  best  men,*  and  mortally  wounded  a  good  officer 
on  the  forecastle  only.t  My  situation  was  really  deplorable  ; 
the  Bon  Homme  Richard  received  various  shot  under  water 
from  the  Alliance ;  the  leak  gained  on  the  pumps,  and  the  fire 
increased  much  on  board  both  ships.  Some  officers  persuaded 
me  to  strike,  of  whose  courage  and  good  sense  I  entertain  a 
high  opinion.  My  treacherous  master-at-arms  let  loose  all  my 
prisoners  without  my  knowledge,  and  my  prospects  became 
gloomy  indeed.^  I  would  not,  however,  give  up  the  point. 


by  the  Bon  Homme  Richard,  on  the  off  side,  must  have  come  from  the  Alliance.  The 
fact  of  the  Alliance  firing  into  the  Bon  Homme  Richard,  is  also  attested  by  the  old  log- 
book of  the  Bon  Homme  Richard,  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  George  Napier,  Advocate, 
in  Edinburgh. 

*  Agreeably  to  report.  Note  by  Jones  :  "  The  furious  cannonade  from  the  upper 
and  lower  batteries  of  the  Serapis,  occasioned  many  who  had  been  skulking  below  in 
the  Bon  Homme  Richard,  to  come  on  deck.  They  were  exposed  to  the  grape  shot  of 
the  Alliance  while  the  enemy's  men  were  under  cover.  It  was,  therefore,  difficult  to 
tell  how  many  men  on  board  the  B.  H.  R.  were  ki'aed  and  wounded  by  the  shot  from 
the  Alliance." — Journal  for  the  King.  It  was  attested  by  half  a  dozen  officers,  that 
Landais  said,  next  morning,  he  had  raked  with  grape  shot,  which  he  knew  would  scatter. 
t  So  in  two  different  MS.  copies,  and  three  in  print.  He  means,  the  only  efficient 
officer  on  the  forecastle. 

t  "  This  must  have  ruined  Captain  Jones,  had  not  the  prisoners  been  terrified  out  of 
their  senses.  Captain  Jones  availed  himself  of  their  fears,  and  placed  them  to  work 
the  pumps." — Journal  for  the  King. 

23 


186  PAUL   JONES. 

The  enemy's  main-mast  began  to  shake,*  their  firing  decreased 
fast,  ours  rather  increased,  and  the  British  colours  were  struck 
at  half  an  hour  past  ten  o'clock.! 

"  This  prize  proved  to  be  the  British  ship  of  war  the  Serapis, 
a  new  ship  of  forty-four  guns,  built  on  the  most  approved  con- 
struction, with  two  complete  batteries,  one  of  them  of  eighteen- 
pounders,  and  commanded  by  the  brave  Commodore  Richard 
Pearson.  I  had  yet  two  enemies  to  encounter,  far  more  formi- 
dable than  the  Britons,  I  mean,  fire  and  water.  The  Serapis 
was  attacked  only  by  the  first,  but  the  Bon  Homme  Richard 
was  assailed  by  both  ;  there  was  five  feet  water  in  the  hold,  and 
though  it  was  moderate  from  the  explosion  of  so  much  gun- 


*  It  went  by  the  board,  Captain  Pearson  says,  just  as  he  was  striking.  Jones  says  the 
same.  Jones  notices  it  as  very  remarkable,  how  well  the  three  light  quarter-deck 
guns  were  served  during  the  whole  action,  and  the  confusion  that  ensued  when  the 
water  was  gaining  below,  the  ships  alternately  catching  fire  from  each  other,  the 
Alliance  firing  at  the  Bon  Homme  Richard,  and  the  prisoners  set  loose.  "  He  got  one 
of  the  ofTguns  over  soon  after  the  Alliance  raked  the  first  time,  but  could  never  muster 
strength  sufficient  to  bring  over  the,  other."  In  the  clear  moon  light,  the  enemy's 
mast  being  painted  yellow,  the  flames  of  the  main  shrouds,  &c.  made  the  main-mast  a 
distinct  mark.  Captain  Jones  took  aim  at  it  with  donble-headed  shot. 

t  "  There  was  no  occasion  for  a  boat  or  bridge  between  the  two  ships.  Captain 
Pearson  stepped  on  board  the  Bon  Homme  Richard,  and  delivered  up  his  sword  to 
Captain  Jones,  who  returned  it  to  him,  because  he  had  bravely  used  it.  He  then 
heard,  and  the  next  morning  saw,  with  astonishment,  the  inferior  force  and  mangled 
condition  of  the  Bon  Homme  Richard." — Journal  for  the  King.  Mr.  Goldsborough, 
in  his  Naval  Chronicle,  p.  21,  retails  the  following  ridiculous  anecdote  : 

"When  Captain  Pearson  was  about  delivering  up  his  sword  to  Captain  Jones,  he 
observed,  '  I  cannot,  sir,  but  feel  much  mortification  at  the  idea  of  surrendering  my 
•word,  to  a  man  who  has  fought  me  with  a  rope  round  his  neck.'  Captain  Jones  re- 
ceived his  sword,  but  immediately  returned  it,  with  the  remark,  '  you  have  fought 
gallantly,  sir,  and  I  hope  your  ki:;g  will  give  you  a  better  ship.'  " 

Captain  Pearson  was  a  gentleman,  as  well  as  a  brave  officer.  Though  it  appears 
by  his  autographic  notes,  that  in  '  reading  and  writing'  he  was  not  as  well  taught  as 
Jones,  he  would  have  been  guilty  of  no  such  nonsense  as  is  above  charged  to  him. 
Had  he  been  so,  Jones  would  probably  have  given  the  sword  to  the  man  at  his  elbow, 
and  interchanged  no  superfluous  compliments  with  his  vanquished  customer.  Such 
absurdities  should  not  be  a  part  of  what  is  called,  "  The  Naval  Chronicle  of  the 
United  States." 


PAUL   JOJNES.  187 

powder,  yet  the  three  pumps  that  remained  could  with  difficulty 
only   keep  the   water  from  gaining.     The  fire  broke  out  in 
various  parts  of  the  ship,  in  spite  of  all  the  water  that  could  be 
thrown  in  to  quench  it,  and  at  length  broke  out  as  low  as  the 
powder  magazine,  and  within  a  few  inches  of  the  powder.     In 
that  dilemma,  I  took  out  the  powder  upon  deck,  ready  to  be 
thrown  overboard  at  the  last  extremity,  and  it  was  ten  o'clock 
the  next  day,  the  24th,  before  the  fire  was  entirely  extinguish- 
ed.    With  respect  to  the  situation  of  the  Bon  Homme  Richard, 
the   rudder  was    cut  entirely    oflf,   the  stern  frame  and  tran- 
soms were  almost  entirely  cut  away,  and  the  timbers  by  the 
lower  deck,  especially  from  the  main-mast  towards  the  stern, 
being  greatly  decayed  with  age,  were  mangled  beyond  my  power 
of  description,  and  a  person  must  have  been  an  eye  witness  to 
form  a  just  idea  of  the  tremendous  scene  of  carnage,  wreck,  and 
ruin,  which  every  where  appeared.*  Humanity  cannot  but  recoil 
from  the  ^rospect  of  such  finished  horror,  and  lament  that  war 
should  be  capable  of  producing  such  fatal  consequences. 

"  After  the  carpenters,  as  well  as  Captain  Cottineau  and 
other  men  of  sense,  had  well  examined  and  surveyed  the  ship, 
(which  was  not  finished  before  five  in  the  evening,)  I  found 
every  person  to  be  convinced  that  it  was  impossible  to  keep  the 
Bon  Homme  Ri  -hard  afloat  so  as  to  reach  a  port,  if  the  wind 
should  increase,  it  being  then  only  a  very  moderate  breeze.  1 
had  but  little  time  to  remove  my  wounded,  which  now  became 
unavoidable,  and  which  was  effected  in  the  course  of  the  night 


*  "  The  Bon  Homme  Richard  received  little  damage  in  her  masts ;  but  was  cut 
entirely  to  pieces  between  decks,  especially  from  the  main-mast  to  the  stern.  In  that  space, 
there  was  an  entire  break  on  both  sides,  from  the  gun-deck,  almost  to  the  water's  edge ;  so 
that  towards  the  end  of  the  action,  almost  all  the  shot  of  the  Serapis  had  passed  through 
;he  Bon  Homme  Richard,  without  touching.  The  rudder  and  transoms  were  cut  off;  and 
here  and  there  an  old  rotten  timber,  besides  the  stern-post,  was  the  only  support  that 
prevented  the  stern  from  falling  down  on  the  gun-room  deck."  "  Eight  or  ten  of  the 
Bon  Homme  Richard's  men  took  away  a  fine  cutter  boat,  that  had  been  at  the  stern  of 
the  Serapis  during  the  action,  and  landed  at  Scarborough.  Some  others  were  so 
much  afraid  as  to  swim  on  board  the  Alliance  after  the  action.'1 — Journal  for  the  King 


188  PAUL   JONES. 

and  next  morning.  I  was  determined  to  keep  the  Bon  Hon  ,mc 
Richard  afloat,  and,  if  possible,  to  bring  her  into  port.  For 
that  purpose,  the  first  lieutenant  of  the  Pallas  continued  on 
board  with  a  party  of  men  to  attend  the  pumps,  with  boats  in 
waiting  ready  to  take  them  on  board,  in  case  the  water  should 
gain  on  them  too  fast.  The  wind  augmented  in  the  night,  and 
the  next  day,  the  25th,  so  that  it  was  impossible  to  prevent  the 
good  old  ship  from  sinking.  They  did  not  abandon  her  till 
after  nine  o'clock ;  the  water  was  then  up  to  the  lower  deck, 
and  a  little  after  ten  I  saw,  with  inexpressible  grief,  the  last 
glimpse  of  the  Son  Homme  Richard.  No  lives  were  lost  with 
the  ship,*  but  it  was  impossible  to  save  the  stores  of  any  sort 
whatever.  I  lost  even  the  best  part  of  my  clothes,  books,  and 
papers  ;  and  several  of  my  officers  lost  all  their  clothes  and 
effects. 

"  Having  thus  endeavoured  to  give  a  clear  and  simple  relation 
of  the  circumstances  and  events  that  have  attended  the  little 
armament  under  my  command,  I  shall  freely  submit  my  conduct 
therein  to  the  censure  of  my  superiors  and  the  impartial  public. 
I  beg  leave,  however,  to  observe,  that  the  force  put  under  my 
command  was  far  from  being  well  composed,  and  as  the  great 
majority  of  the  actors  in  it  have  appeared  bent  on  the  pursuit  of 
interest  only,  I  am  exceedingly  sorry,  that  they  and  I  have  been 
at  all  concerned." 

"Captain  Cottineau  engaged  the  Countess  of  Scarborough, 
and  took  her,  after  an  hour's  action,  while  the  Bon  Homme 
Richard  engaged;  the  Serapis.  The  Countess  of  Scarborough 


*  Captain  Pearson  stated  in  his  official  despatch,  that  the  Bon  Homme  Richard 
ronk  "  with  a  great  number  of  her  wounded  people  on  board."  He  was  in  error. 
Jones  repeats  in  his  Journal,  that  "  with  the  pilot  boat,  and  the  boats  of  the  squadron, 
all  the  wounded  were  removed,  and  every  person  was  saved.  The  lieutenant  of  the 
Pall.-is  remained  on  board  the  Bon  Homme  Richard,  with  a  party  to  attend  the 
pumps,  and  boats  waiting  to  take  them  on  board,  if  they  conld  no  longer  keep  her 
afloat.  In  the  morning,  the  wind  increased  and  they  were  obliged  to  abandon  her, 
the  water  being  over  the  lower  deck.  Soon  after  the  Bon  Homme  Richard  disap- 
peared, the  stern  and  mizen-mast  being  seen  last. 


PAUL    JONES. 

is  an  armed  ship  of  20  six-pounders,  and  was  commar  ded  by  a 
king's  officer.  In  the  action,  the  Countess  of  Scarborough  and 
the  Serapis  were  at  a  considerable  distance  asunder ;  and  the 
Alliance,  as  I  am  informed,  fired  into  the  Pallas  and  killed  some 
men.  If  it  should  be  asked,  why  the  convoy  was  suffered  to 
escape,  I  must  answer,  that  I  was  myself  in  no  condition  to 
pursue,  and  that  none  of  the  rest  showed  any  inclination ;  not 
even  Mr.  Ricot,  who  had  held  off  at  a  distance  to  windward 
during  the  whole  action,  and  withheld  by  force  the  pilot  boat 
with  my  lieutenant  and  fifteen  men.*  The  Alliance,  too,  was  in 
a  state  to  pur  sue  the  fleet,  not  having  had  a  single  man  wounded, 
or  a  single  shot  fired  at  her  from  the  Serapis,  and  only  three 
that  did  execution  from  the  Countess  of  Scarborough,  at  such 
a  distance  that  one  stuck  in  the  side,  and  the  other  two  just 
touched,  and  then  dropped  into  the  water.  The  Alliance  killed 
one  man  only  on  board  the  Serapis.  As  Captain  de  Cottineau 
charged  himself  with  manning  and  securing  the  prisoners  of  the 
Countess  of  Scarborough,  I  think  the  escape  of  the  Baltic  fleet 
cannot  so  well  be  charged  to  his  account.! 

"  I  should  have  mentioned,  that  the  main-mast  and  mizen- 
top-mast  of  the  Serapis  fell  overboard,  soon  after  the  captain 
had  come  on  board  the  Bon  Homme  Richard." 

That  the  accounts  of  eye  witnesses  immediately  concerned  in 
this  action  may  not  be  confused  by  commentary,  we  shall  im- 
mediately add  the  narrative  of  Jones'  first,  and  then,  only  lieu- 
tenant, Richard  Dale,  subsequently  a  distinguished  post  captain 
in  the  navy  of  the  United  States,  said  to  have  been  furnished  for 
Mr.  Sherburne's  Collections. 


*  This  is  founded  on  a  report  that  has  proved  to  be  false ;  for  it  now  appears,  that 
Captain  Ricot  expressly  ordered  the  pilot  boat  to  board  the  Bon  Homme  Richard, 
which  order  was  disobeyed. — Note  by  Jones. 

t  "It  was  a  thick  fog  all  the  morning.  When  it  began  to  clear  up,  the  enemy's 
merchant  ships  had  got  safe  into  their  harbours,  and  not  a  sail  appeared  along  the 
shore."— Journal  for  the  King. 


190  PAUL   JONES. 

"  On  the  23d  of  September,  1779,  being  below,  was  roused 
by  an  unusual  noise  upon  deck.  This  induced  me  to  go  upon 
deck,  when  I  found  the  men  were  swaying  up  the  royal  yards, 
preparatory  to  making  sail  for  a  large  fleet  under  our  lee.  I 
asked  the  coasting  pilot  what  fleet  it  was  ?  He  answered,  '  The 
Baltic  Fleet,  under  convoy  of  the  Serapis  of  44  guns,  and 
the  Countess  of  Scarborough  of  20  guns.'  A  general  chase 
then  commenced  of  the  Bon  Homme  Richard,  the  Vengeance, 
the  Pallas,  and  the  Alliance  ;  the  latter  ship  being  then  in  sight, 
after  a  separation  from  the  squadron  of  nearly  three  weeks ; 
but  which  ship,  as  usual,  disregarded  the  signals  of  the  com- 
modore. At  this  time  our  fleet  headed  to  the  northward  with  a 
light  breeze,  Flamborough  Head  being  about  two  leagues  dis- 
tant. At  seven  p.  M.  it  was  evident  the  Baltic  fleet  perceived 
we  were  in  chase,  from  the  signal  of  the  Serapis  to  the  mer- 
chantmen to  stand  in  shore.  At  the  same  time,  the  {Serapis 
and  Countess  of  Scarborough  tacked  ship  and  stood  off  shore, 
with  the  intention  of  drawing  off  our  attention  from  the  convoy. 
When  these  ships  had  separated  from  the  convoy  about  two 
miles,  they  again  tacked  and  stood  in  shore  after  the  merchant- 
men. At  about  eight,  being  within  hail,  the  Serapis  demanded, 
'  What  ship  is  that  ?'  He  was  answered,  '  I  can't  hear  what  you 
say.'  Immediately  after  the  Serapis  hailed  again,  '  What  ship 
is  that  ?  Answer  immediately,  or  I  shall  be  under  the  necessity 
of  firing  into  you.'  At  this  moment  I  received  orders  from 
Commodore  Jones  to  commence  the  action  with  a  broadside, 
which,  indeed,  appeared  to  be  simultaneous  on  board  both  ships. 
Our  position  being  to  windward  of  the  Serapis,  we  passed  ahead 
of  her,  and  the  Serapis  coming  up  on  our  larboard  quarter,  the 
action  commenced  abreast  of  each  other.  The  Serapis  soon 
passed  ahead  of  the  Bon  Homme  Richard,  and  when  he  thought 
he  had  gained  a  distance  sufficient  to  go  down  athwart  the  fore- 
foot to  rake  us,  found  he  had  not  enough  distance,  and  that  the 
Bon  Homme  Richard  would  be  aboard  him,  put  his  helm  alee, 
which  brought  the  two  ships  on  a  line ;  and  the  Bon  Homme 
Richard  having  headway,  ran  her  bows  into  the  stern  of  the 


PAUL    JONES. 

Serapis.  We  had  remained  in  this  situation  but  a  few  minutes, 
when  we  were  again  hailed  by  the  Serapis ;  '  Has  your  ship 
struck  ?'  To  which  Captain  Jones  answered,  '  I  have  not  yet 
begun  to  fight.'  As  we  were  unable  to  bring  a  single  gun  to 
bear  upon  the  Serapis,  our  top-sails  were  backed,  while  those 
of  the  Serapis  being  filled,  the  ships  separated.  The  Serapis 
wore  short  round  upon  her  heels,  and  her  jib-boom  ran  into  the 
mizen-rigging  of  the  Bon  Homme  Richard ;  in  this  situation 
the  ships  were  made  fast  together  with  a  hawser,  the  bowsprit 
of  the  Serapis  to  the  mizen-mast  of  the  Bon  Homme  Richard, 
and  the  action  recommenced  from  the  starboard  sides  of  the 
two  ships.  With  a  view  of  separating  the  ships,  the  Serapis 
let  go  her  anchor,  which  manoeuvre  brought  her  head  and  the 
stern  of  the  Bon  Homme  Richard  to  the  wind,  while  the  ships 
lay  closely  pressed  against  each  other.  A  novelty  in  naval  com- 
bats was  now  presented  to  many  witnesses,  but  to  few  admirers. 
The  rammers  were  run  into  the  respective  ships  to  enable  the 
men  to  load,  after  the  lower  part  of  the  Serapis  had  been  blown 
away,  to  make  room  for  running  out  their  guns,  and  in  this 
situation  the  ships  remained  until  between  10  and  11  o'clock 
P.  M.  when  the  engagement  terminated  by  the  surrender  of  the 
Serapis. 

"  From  the  commencement  to  the  termination  of  the  action, 
there  was  not  a  man  on  board  of  the  Bon  Homme  Richard 
ignorant  of  the  superiority  of  the  Serapis,  both  in  weight  of 
metal  and  in  the  qualities  of  the  crews.  The  crew  of  that  ship 
were  picked  seamen,  and  the  ship  itself  had  been  only  a  few 
months  off  the  stocks  ;  whereas  the  crew  of  the  Bon  Homme 
Richard  consisted  of  part  American,  English,  and  French,  and 
in  part  of  Maltese,  Portuguese,  and  Malays ;  these  latter  con- 
tributing, by  their  want  of  naval  skill  and  knowledge  of  the 
English  language,  to  depress  rather  than  elevate  a  just  hope  of 
success  in  a  combat  under  such  circumstances.  Neither  the 
consideration  of  the  relative  force  of  the  ships,  the  fact  of  the 
blowing  up  of  the  gun-deck  above  them,  by  the  bursting  of  two 
of  the  eighteen-pounders,  nor  the  alarm  that  the  ship  was  sink- 


192  PAUL   JONES. 

ing,  could  depress  the  ardour  or  change  the  determination  of 
the  brave  Captain  Jones,  his  officers  and  men.  Neither  the 
repeated  broadsides  of  the  Alliance,  given  with  the  view  of  sink- 
ing or  disabling  the  Bon  Homme  Richard,  the  frequent  neces- 
sity of  suspending  the  combat  to  extinguish  the  flames,  which 
several  times  were  within  a  few  inches  of  the  magazine,  nor 
the  liberation,  by  the  master-at-arms,  of  nearly  500  prisoners, 
could  change  or  weaken  the  purpose  of  the  American  com- 
mander. At  the  moment  of  the  liberation  of  the  prisoners,  one 
of  them,  a  commander  of  a  twenty  gun  ship,  taken  a  few  days 
before,  passed  through  the  ports  on  board  the  Serapis,  and 
informed  Captain  Pearson,  that  if  he  would  hold  out  only  a  little 
while  longer,  the  ship  alongside  would  either  strike  or  sink, 
and  that  all  the  prisoners  had  been  released  to  save  their  lives ; 
the  combat  was  accordingly  continued  with  renewed  ardour  by 
the  Serapis.  The  fire  from  the  tops  of  the  Bon  Homme  Richard 
was  conducted  with  so  much  skill  and  effect  as  to  destroy  ulti- 
mately every  man  who  appeared  upon  the  quarter-deck  of  the 
Serapis,  and  induced  her  commander  to  order  the  survivors  to 
go  below.  Nor  even  under  shelter  of  the  decks  were  they  more 
secure.  The  powder-monkeys  of  the  Serapis  finding  no  officer 
to  receive  the  eighteen-pound  cartridges  brought  from  the  ma- 
gazines, threw  them  on  the  main-deck,  and  went  for  more. 
These  cartridges  being  scattered  along  the  deck,  and  numbers 
of  them  broken,  it  so  happened,  that  some  of  the  hand-grenades 
thrown  from  the  main-yard  of  the  Bon  Homme  Richard,  which 
was  directly  over  the  main-hatch  of  the  Serapis,  fell  upon  this 
powder,  and  produced  a  most  awful  explosion.  The  effect  was 
tremendous ;  more  than  twenty  of  the  enemy  were  blown  to 
pieces,  and  many  stood  with  only  the  collars  of  their  shirts  upon 
their  bodies.  In  less  than  an  hour  afterwards,  the  flag  of  Eng- 
land, which  had  been  nailed  to  the  mast  of  the  Serapis,  was 
struck  by  Captain  Pearson's  own  hand,  as  none  of  his  people 
would  venture  aloft  on  this  duty ;  and  this,  too,  when  more  than 
1,500  persons  were  witnessing  the  conflict,  and  the  humiliating 
termination  of  it  from  Scarborough  and  Flamborough  Head. 


PAUL   JONES.  193 

"  Upon  finding  that  the  flag  of  the  Serapis  had  been  struck, 
I  went  to  Captain  Jones,  and  asked  whether  I  might  board  the 
Serapis?  to  which  he  consented  ;  and,  jumping  upon  the  gun- 
wale, I  seized  the  main-brace  pennant,  and  swung  myself  upon 
her  quarter-deck.  Midshipman  Mayant  followed  with  a  party 
of  men,  and  was  immediately  run  through  the  thigh  with  a  board- 
ing-pike by  some  of  the  enemy  stationed  in  the  waist,  who  were 
not  informed  of  the  surrender  of  the  ship.  I  found  Captain 
Pearson  standing  on  the  leeward  side  of  the  quarter-deck,  and 
addressing  myself  to  him,  said,  '  Sir,  I  have  orders  to  send  you 
on  board  the  ship  alongside.'  The  first  lieutenant  of  the  Sera 
pis  coming  up  at  this  moment,  inquired  of  Captain  Pearson, 
whether  the  ship  alongside  had  struck  to  him  ?  To  which  I 
replied,  *  No  sir,  the  contrary  ;  he  has  struck  to  us.'  The 
lieutenant  renewing  his  inquiry,  '  Have  you  struck,  sir  ?'  was  an- 
swered, '  Yes,  I  have.'  The  lieutenant  replied,  '  I  have  nothing 
more  to  say,'  and  was  about  to  return  below,  when  I  informed 
him,  he  must  accompany  Captain  Pearson  on  board  the  ship 
alongside.  He  said,  '  It  you  will  permit  me  to  go  below,  I  will 
silence  the  firing  of  the  lower-deck  guns.'  This  request  was  re- 
fused, and,  with  Captain  Pearson,  he  was  passed  over  to  the-deck 
of  the  Bon  Homme  Richard.  Orders  being  sent  below  to  cease 
firing,  the  engagement  terminated,  after  a  most  obstinate  con- 
test of  three  hours  and  a  half. 

"Upon  receiving  Captain  Pearson  on  board  the  Bon  Homme 
Richard,  Captain  Jones  gave  orders  to  cut  loose  the  lashings, 
and  directed  me  to  follow  him  with  the  Serapis.  Perceiving  the 
Bon  Homme  Richard  leaving  the  Serapis,  I  sent  one  of  the 
quarter-masters  to  ascertain  whether  the  wheel-ropes  were  cut 
away,  supposing  something  extraordinary  must  be  the  matter, 
as  the  ship  would  not  pay  off,  although  the  head  sails  were 
aback,  and  no  after  sail ;  the  quarter-master  returning,  reported 
that  the  wheel-ropes  were  all  well,  and  the  helm  hard  a-port. 
Excited  by  this  extraordinary  circumstance,  I  jumped  off  the 
binnacle,  where  I  had  been  sitting,  and  falling  upon  the  deck, 
found  to  my  astonishment  I  had  the  use  of  only  one  of  my  legs ; 

24 


194  PAUL   JONES. 

a  splinter  of  one  of  the  guns  had  struck  and  badly  wounded 
my  leg  without  my  perceiving  the  injury  until  this  moment.  I 
was  replaced  upon  the  binnacle,  when  the  sailing-master  of  the 
Serapis  coming  up  to  me,  observed,  that  from  my  orders  he 
judged  I  must  be  ignorant  of  the  ship  being  at  anchw.  Noticing 
the  second  lieutenant  of  the  Bon  Horn  me  Richard,  I  directed 
him  to  go  below  and  cut  away  the  cable,  and  follow  the  Bon 
Homme  Richard  with  the  Serapis.  I  was  then  carried  on  board 
the  Bon  Homme  Richard  to  have  my  wound  dressed." 

When  the  ordinary  allowances  are  made  for  the  causes  which 
induce  different  representations,  as  to  the  incidents  and  results 
of  a  desperate  engagement,  from  the  two  parties,  it  is  perhaps 
a  little  surprising,  that  the  particulars  given  in  the  letter 
addressed  by  the  gallant  Pearson  to  the  Admiralty  office,  vary 
so  immaterially  from  the  other  accounts.  He  states,  that  he 
was  tacking  to  keep  his  ground  between  the  enemy's  ships  and 
the  convoy,  when,  about  the  time  mentioned  by  the  American 
commander,  the  ship  of  the  latter  brought  to,  on  his  larboard 
bow.  When  asked,  what  ship  she  was,  he  understood  the  men 
to  answer,  "the  Princess  Royal."  He  does  not  essentially  con- 
tradict the  subsequent  details.  He  says  his  ship  was  on  fire 
ten  or  twelve  times  in  different  places.  The  Alliance  being 
near,  he  found  it  impracticable  to  stand  out  any  longer,  with  the 
least  hope  of  success.  He  had  done  all  that  the  "  bravest  of  the 
brave"  could  do  ;  and  well  earned  the  honour  of  knighthood.* 
We  have  already  referred,  in  the  previous  notes,  to  his  remarks 
on  the  conduct  of  the  Alliance.  If  we  put  the  two  accounts 
together,  of  Pearson  and  Jones,  without  adding  the  testimony  of 
the  numerous  officers  in  the  squadron,  which  sinks  the  scale  in 


*  Mr.  Goldsborough  chronicles  another  current  apochryphal  anecdote,  which  may 
or  may  not  be  true ;  but  it  is  at  any  rate  in  far  better  taste  than  the  one  referred  to  in  a 
note  some  pages  back.  "  When  Captain  Jones  was  in  Paris,  some  short  time  after 
the  action,  he  was  informed  that  Captain  Pearson  had  been  knighted.  "Well,"  said  he, 
"  he  deserved  it;  and  if  I  fall  in  with  him  again,  I  will  make  a  lord  of  him." 


PAUL  JONES.  195 

which  Landais  might  be  weighed,  to  the  very  aadir,  it  will 
unequivocally  appear  that  the  latter  did  more  harm  to  the  Bon 
Homme  Richard,  than  to  the  Serapis.  But  how,  as  the  editor 
of  the  Life  of  Jones,  published  in  Edinburgh,  has  naturally  re- 
marked, "  could  any  British  officer  have  learned  to  imagine  the 
atrocity  of  a  commander  pointing  his  guns  in  the  heat  of  a  close 
action,  not  against  the  enemy,  but  against  his  own  consort  ?" 
We  have  said  the  remark  was  naturally  made ;  but  perceive  by 
looking  further,  that  the  anomalous  conduct  of  Landais  is  made 
by  this  editor  a  shoeing  horn,  to  pull  up  sweeping  charges 
against  the  French  marine.  This  is  natural  too.  Captain 
Pearson's  account  of  the  distressed  and  hopeless  condition  of 
the  Bon  Homme  Richard,  is  in  consonance  with  all  the  others. 
In  the  copy  of  his  letter  published  in  Sherburne's  Collections, 
the  only  one  I  have,  the  number  of  killed  and  wounded  on  board 
of  that  ship,  is  stated  at  306.  It  must  be  a  typographical  error  ; 
as  Captain  Pearson  must  have  known,  within  a  score  or  two, 
the  equipage  of  the  vessel,  and  by  this  reckoning  there  would 
have  been  not  a  soul  left  to  take  charge  of  the  fragments  of  the 
battle. 

The  official  list  of  the  wounded  on  board  the  Serapis,  of  whom 
eight  had  died  when  it  is  dated,  September  30th,  amounts  to 
68,  besides  a  few  whose  names  could  not  be  ascertained.*  Of 
the  dead  there  is  no  official  return  before  me.  In  the  roll 
of  the  Bon  Homme  Richard's  equipage,  published  in  Sher- 
burne's Collections,  42  are  returned  killed,  and  40  wounded.t 
There  are,  however,  but  228  names  on  this  imperfect  docu- 
ment, which  is  without  date  or  voucher ;  and  in  which  the 
master,  Mr.  Cutting  Lunt,  is  called  the  third  lieutenant,  Mr. 
Stacey,  acting  master,  the  master,  &c.  Captain  Pearson  says, 
"  our  loss  in  the  Serapis  was  very  great."  Jones  says,  in 
his  Journal  for  the  King  :  "  By  a  return  of  the  surgeon  of  the 
Serapis,  they  had  a  hundred  men  dangerously  wounded  on  board 


*  Sherburae's  Collections,  p.  103.  f  Ib.  p.  140. 


196  PAUL   JONES. 

that  ship  in  the  action.  Their  loss,  appears  to  be  that  number 
killed.  They  having  taken  on  board  some  East  India  seamen 
at  Copenhagen,  over  and  above  their  complement,  their  crew 
appears  to  have  been  four  hundred  effective  men,  when  the 
action  began.  Captain  Jones  had  but  three  hundred  and  eighty, 
good  and  bad,  when  he  left  France.  He  had  manned  several 
prizes,  which,  with  desertions  on  the  coasts  of  Ireland  and  Scot- 
land, and  the  absence  of  the  pilot  boat,  with  two  officers  and  six- 
teen of  his  best  men,  reduced  him  to  three  hundred  and  forty, 
including  the  disaffected,  which  were  a  great  majority  of  the 
whole,  as  they  were  chiefly  British,  who  had  enlisted  from  the 
prisons  of  France.*  It  may  also  be  observed,  the  officers  and 
men  placed  in  the  gun-room,  sixty  in  number,  did  not  discharge 
a  second  shot,  nor  otherwise  assist,  and  cannot  properly  be  said 
to  have  been  in  the  action.  To  say  nothing  of  the  damage  done 
by  the  Countess  of  Scarborough  and  the  Alliance,  the  enemy 
was  superior  in  cannon,  as  576  is  to  390,t  besides  a  greater 
superiority  in  men ;  and  had  thirteen  feet  three  inches  between 
her  guns  ;  whereas,  the  guns  of  the  Bon  Homme  Richard 
were  only  nine  feet  six  inches  asunder." 

It  is  out  of  the  province,  as  it  is  utterly  beyond  the  skill  of  the 
compiler,  to  comment  with  any  science  on  the  conduct  of  the 
commanders  of  the  Pallas  and  Vengeance,  during  this  naval 
combat.  It  will  appear  to  the  common  reader,  that  Captain 
Cottineau,  whom  Jones  always  speaks  of  respectfully,  did  all 
his  duty.  Jones  certifies,  that  Captain  Ricotof  the  Vengeance 
was  "  a  sensible  man,  and  a  good  officer  ;"  and  has  himself 


*  Forty-six  seamen  are  marked  as  Americans,  in  the  roll  published  in  Sherburne's 
Collections,  and  thirty-two  among  the  officers  of  all  descriptions,  from  the  commander 
to  the  cook. 

t  In  Sherburne's  Collections,  the  weight  of  metal  which  the  Bon  Homme  Richard 
could  throw,  is  stated  at  414  pounds ;  but  this  statement  is  wrong  altogether,  accord- 
ing to  the  official  inventory  in  French,  copied  from  that  filed  by  order  of  Congress. 
Jones  had  G  eighteen-pounders,  28  twelve-pounders,  and  6  nine-pounders.  Three  of 
the  last  gained  him  the  battle.  His  weight  of  metal  was,  therefore,  474.  That  >f 
the  Serapis,  according  to  Sherburne,  was  600. 


PAUL  JONES.  197 

corrected  the  charge  of  neglect  of  orders,  which  he  at  first 
threw  out  against  him.  If  it  be  thought  that  "  he  did  his  duty, 
and  he  did  no  more,"  it  must  be  remembered  that  by  random 
firing  he  might  have  done  more  harm  than  good  ;  and  that  the 
Serapis  had  a  broadside  in  store  on  the  off  side,  which  might 
have  proved  fatal  to  his  corvette  of  12  guns  and  sixty-six 
men.  Like  the  lieutenant  in  the  pilot  boat,  he  may  have 
thought  it  not  prudent,  to  go  too  close  in  the  night  to  two  ships, 
both  on  fire,  and  locked  in  mortal  struggle.  The  Alliance,  the 
comet  of  the  scene,  might  have  flung  some  of  its  scattering  trail 
at  him,  as  the  commander  does  not  seem  to  have  confined  his 
attentions  to  the  Bon  Homme  Richard  and  Serapis.  Cupidity 
could  not  have  been  the  dominant  passion  of  any  of  the  French 
captains ;  or  they  would  have  given  a  better  account  of  the 
convoy. 

But  what  can  be  said  for  Contre  Admiral  Pierre  Landais,  as 
he  afterwards  styled  himself?  The  mind  not  stolid  or  brutalized, 
ever  seeks  an  apology  or  an  explanation  for  mental  eccentricity, 
when  it  is  unallied  to  moral  turpitude.  But  if  we  are  to  treat 
Landais  as  a  rational  agent,  we  must  charge  him,  as  all  who 
have  canvassed  the  subject  have  done,  either  with  cowardice, 
gross  ignorance,  and  stupidity,  or  malignant  and  base  jealousy. 
Make  every  allowance  for  the  tactics  and  regime  of  the  old 
ecole  de  la  marine  ;  for  the  pride  of  birth,  if  he  was  noble  ;  and 
for  professional  pride,  if  he  considered  himself  under  the  con- 
cordat, as  an  ally  of  Jones,  and  not  bound  to  obey  his  orders  : 
still,  on  one  or  more  of  the  prongs  of  this  ugly  trident,  Landais 
must  either  be  impaled,  or  sadly  bruised.  We  are  compelled 
to  reject  the  idea,  that  personal  timidity  was  his  misfortune,  not 
only  from  the  nature  of  his  profession,  but  from  various  passages 
in  his  life.*  If  we  ask  for  the  motives  of  his  conduct  on  this 


*  Captain  de  Cottineau  de  Kloguene,  of  the  Pallas,  does,  however,  certify  distinctly 
to  the  ninth  article  of  the  charges  against  Landais ;  which  was,  that,  when  on  the 
morning  of  the  day  when  the  action  was  fought,  the  Bon  Homme  Richard  came  in 
sight  of  the  Pallas  and  Alliance,  off  Flamborongh  Head,  Landais  told  him,  that  if  it  was 


PAUL 

occasion,  the  twenty-third  charge  against  him,  attested  by  the 
formal  declarations  of  three  officers  is,  that  he  "  acknowledged 
after  the  action,  that  he  would  have  thought  it  no  harm  if  the 
Bon  Homme  Richard  had  struck  ;  for  it  would  have  given  him 
an  opportunity  to  retake  her,  and  take  the  Serapis."  Other 
witnesses  of  competent  character  bear  testimony  that  he  subse- 
quently made  the  same  remark.  We  shall  encumber  these 
pages  with  no  more  of  the  multitudinous  accusations  and  proofs 
against  Landais,  growing  out  of  this  transaction.  Grave  nar- 
rative must  leave  his  memory  under  these  embarrassments. 
The  amateurs  of  the  moral  picturesque,  may  disport  with  it 
after  their  several  conceptions.* 

In  an  account  made  out  by  Jones  while  at  the  Texel,  I  find 
an  item  in  which  the  marine  committee  of  the  United  States  is 
charged  with  a  hundred  ducats,  paid  to  John  Jackson,  of  Hull, 
as  smart  money;  "besides,"  the  item  states,  "  giving  him  a 
certificate,  by  which  he  is  to  receive  half  pay  as  Pilot  during  his 
life,  from  the  minister  plenipotentiary  of  the  United  States  at 
Paris,  for  his  gallant  behaviour,  and  the  loss  of  his  arm,  in  the 
action  with  the  Serapis ;  and  for  his  having  proved  a  faithful 
pilot  on  the  east  coast  of  England."  This  man  did  receive  his 
half  pay  during  life. 

Among  these  memoranda  relative  to  the  action  with  the  Se- 
rapis, it  may  be  well  to  give  a  reply  in  anticipation,  to  a  question 
which  will  naturally  occur  to  those  who  take  any  interest  in  an 
unparalleled  sea  fight,  in  which  the  honour  and  hopes  of  their 
own  country  and  its  flag,  were  in  no  small  degree  at  hazard. 
That  question  is,  whether  Jones,  who  wrought  as  a  common 
sailor,  while  he  acted  as  a  commander  in  the  engagement,  who 
lashed  the  ships  fast  together  with  his  own  hands,  repulsed  the 
boarders,  and  personally  worked  the  only  serviceable  guns, 


a  50  gun  ship,  they  must  run  away:  though  he  knew  that  the  Pallas,  from  her  dull 
railing,  must  be  taken. 

*  See  Apoendix  No.  VIII.  before  referred  to. 


PAUL   JONES.  199 

was  wounded  in  the  conflict.  It  would  seem  that  he  /rust  have 
"  borne  a  charmed  life,"  if  in  all  his  daring  and  seemingly  rash 
exploits,  no  bullet  was  marked  for  him,  and  if,  among  crashing 
timbers,  exploding  cartridges,  and  flying  ruins,  he  moved  un- 
scathed amidst  carnage  and  destruction.  He  has  been  charged, 
from  the  tenor  of  his  style,  with  not  making  the  least  of  his 
services,  and  in  fact  with  boastful  egotism,  by  those  who  had 
not  examined,  or  did  not  pause  to  consider  the  meaning  phraseo- 
logy of  that  day,  which  to  quiet  citizens  who  now  feel  and 
know  that  they  are  free,  sounds  as  somewhat  fantastic.  Neither 
have  these  censors  ever  weighed  the  circumstances  of  the 
captain's  education,  the  causes  which  led  him  to  adopt  a  par- 
lance then  familiar,  about  the  dignity  of  human  nature,  &c.  and 
the  situation  in  which  he  spoke  in  the  first  person,  as  one  having 
authority  so  to  do,  when  it  was  in  behalf  of  suffering  and  com- 
plaining seamen,  on  whose  account  he  was  himself  out  of  pocket. 
All  who  have  been  misled  by  an  unenlightened  consideration  of 
the  style  of  Jones,  should  remember,  that  he  never  in  any  of  his 
appeals,  whether  made  with  deliberation,  or  on  the  spur  of  the 
moment,  speaks  of  his  personal  privations  or  sufferance.  A 
memorandum  made  by  him  in  his  Journal,  that  he  never  had 
three  hours'  rest  out  of  the  twenty-four,  during  this  cruise, 
was  not  inserted  in  any  official  document,  and  never  intended 
for  effect.  It  is  known,  as  I  am  assured,  that  he  was  once 
severely  wounded  in  the  head,  and  that  he  underwent  great 
suffering  at  several  times,  from  violent  injuries  received  in  dis- 
charging his  duty.  But,  though  he  carefully  preserved  the 
hasty  notes  of  distinguished  men,  and  the  billets  doux  of  fair 
correspondents,  and  loved  to  dwell  upon  every  mark  of  distinc 
tion  which  he  received  from  courts  or  courtiers,  he  never 
chronicled  his  wounds  in  any  letter  or  journal.  The  only 
reference  I  find  to  them,  is  in  a  fragment  of  what  seems  to  be 
the  draft  of  a  letter  in  his  own  hand  writing,  to  some  person, 
either  a  member  of,  or  connected  with,  the  French  ministry  ; 
and  to  have  been  written  but  a  short  time  before  his  death.  It 
will  be  quoted  in  its  place.  Speaking  of  his  cold  reception  by 


PAUL   JONES. 

M.  De  Sartine,  after  his  return  from  the  Texel,  he  says  :  "  He 
did  not  even  ask  me  if  my  health  had  not  suffered  from  my 
wounds,  and  the  uncommon  fatigue  I  had  undergone."  This 
he  merely  mentions  as  a  forgetfulness  of  the  ordinary  forms  of 
ministerial  politeness. 

"  CAPTAIN  Jones,"  we  follow  his  journal,  "  took  command  of 
the  Serapis,  and  erected  jury-masts.  After  tossing  about  to  and 
fro  in  the  North  Sea,  for  ten  days,  in  contrary  winds  and  bad 
weather,  in  order  to  gain  the  port  of  Dunkirk,  on  account  of  the 
prisoners,  the  captains  under  his  command,  after  some  cabal, 
bore  away  for  the  Texel,  and  left  him  to  windward,  with  the 
choice  to  follow  or  proceed.  [Captain  Jones  never  had  three 
hours  sleep  in  the  twenty-four,  in  the  whole  campaign,  from 
L' Orient  to  the  Texel.]  The  squadron  anchored  off  the  Texel 
the  3d  of  October,  1779  ;  and  they  persisted  in  working  into  the 
port,  though  the  wind  was  fair  for  Dunkirk  the  next  morning." 

This  naval  "  campaign"  as  its  hero  styles  it,  of  course  made 
echoes  that  were  heard  to  a  mighty  distance.  The  fire  he  had 
kindled  in  the  British  ocean  flung  its  terrific  radiance  far  over 
the  world  of  waters,  and  was  beheld  from  distant  shores. 
Britain  was  incensed  at  finding  this  celebrated  American,  with 
his  audacious  prow,  a  second  time  carrying  dismay  into  her  har- 
bours ;  and  at  the  loss,  in  a  fairly  fought  battle,  of  one  of  her  finest 
frigates.  France  and  her  allies  could  not  but  be  delighted.  The 
journals  of  the  day  teemed  with  varying  accounts  of  his  exploits.* 


*  Several  of  these  cotemporary  accounts  have  been  frequently  republished.  It  seems 
unnecessary  to  quote  many  of  them. 

Extract  of  a  letter  from  Stockltolm,  September  21. 

"  Expresses  arrived  on  Saturday,  from  Sunderland,  stating  that  Paul  Jones  had  taken 
sixteen  sail  more  of  colliers.  In  consequence  of  the  capture  of  so  many  colliers,  and 
the  interruption  of  the  trade,  the  price  of  coals  will  be  enormous.  Instead  of  having 
the  dominion  of  the  sea,  it  is  now  evident  that  we  are  not  able  to  defend  our  own  coast 
from  depredations. 


PAUL   Jo.Mls.  201 

Though  the  peevishness  of  Landais  had  prevented  him  from 
fairly  trying  any  of  the  schemes  he  had  meditated,  and  which 
were  compatible  with  each  other,  had  time  been  allowed,  and 
discipline  and  secrecy  preserved— of  intercepting  the  homeward 
bound  East  India  ships,  the  West  India  or  Hudson's  Bay  ships, 
or  the  Baltic  fleet — he  had  struck  another  blow,  valuable  for  its 
effect  in  giving  confidence  to  those  who  were  arming  or  forming 
systems  of  armed  neutrality  against  the  dictatress  of  the  ocean. 
The  information  he  was  enabled  from  resources  and  facilities 
peculiar  to  himself,  to  give  to  the  ministers  and  the  commanders 
of  the  allied  squadron,  was  of  the  highest  value,  and  anticipated 
often  all  their  other  advices.  Had  their  action  been  in  a 
moderate  degree  commensurate  with  his  conception,  the  com- 
merce of  England  would  long  have  had  cause  to  rue  the  ac- 


"  The  master  of  a  sloop  from  Harwich,  who  arrived  yesterday,  saw  on  Saturday  last, 
no  less  than  eleven  sail  of  men  of  war  going  in  search  of  Paul  Jones,  and  among  them 
was  the  Edgar  of  74  guns. 

"  By  the  examination  of  the  four  men  belonging  to  one  of  Paul  Jones'  squadron,  it 
appears  that  Jones'  orders  were  not  to  burn  any  houses  or  towns.  What  an  example 
of  honour  and  greatness  does  America  thus  show  to  us  !  While  our  troops  are  running 
about  from  town  to  town  on  their  coast,  burning  every  thing  with  a  wanton,  wicked 
barbarity,  Dr.  Franklin  gives  no  orders  to  retaliate ;  he  is  above  it :  and  there  was  a 
time  when  an  English  minister  was  above  it ;  when  an  English  minister  would  have 
disdained  to  make  war  in  so  villanous  a  mode.  It  is  a  disgrace  to  the  nation.  Paul 
Jones  could  have  burnt  Leith  the  other  day  with  the  greatest  ease,  and  another  little 
town  near  it." 

From  the  London  Chronicle,  October  17th,  1779. 

"  Amsterdam,  October,  7th. — LastTuesday,  Paul  Jones,  with  the  prizes,  the  Serapis 
and  Scarborough,  entered  the  Texel,  and  this  day  he  appeared  on  the  Exchange, 
where  business  gave  way  to  curiosity.  The  crowd  pressing  upon  him,  by  whom  he  was 
styled  the  terror  of  the  English,  he  withdrew  to  a  room  fronting  a  public  square,  where 
Monsieur  Donneville  the  French  agent,  and  the  Americans,  paid  him  such  a  volley  of 
compliments,  and  such  homage  as  he  could  only  answer  with  a  bow  ;  he  was  dressed  in 
the  American  uniform,  with  a  Scotch  bonnet  edged  with  gold,  is  of  a  middling  stature, 
stern  countenance,  and  swarthy  complexion.  It  was  supposed  he  was  going  to  Paris 
to  receive  the  congratulations  of  the  Grand  Monarque,  and  Dr.  Franklin ;  but  lam  now 
informed,  he  is  gone  to  the  Hague,  to  solicit  by  the  French  ambassador,  the  repair  of 
his  shipping,  which  if  he  should  succeed  in,  he  will  probably  elude  the  vigilance  of  a 
74  gun  ship  waiting  before  the  Texel." 

25 


202 


PAUL    JONES. 


cession  of  so  shrewd  and  practical  a  colleague  to  the  counsels 
of  her  enemies. 

In  the  blaze  of  his  renown,  and  with  the  spoil  of  his  victory, 
he  was  a  second  time  to  contend  with  a  series  of  difficulties, 
more  intricate  than  the  court  intrigues  which  had  before  ex- 
hausted his  patience ;  but  not,  fortunately,  so  protracted.  Before 
he  was  to  leave  the  port,  he  entered  in  triumph.  This  he  effect- 
ed, with  all  his  honour  saved,  gained  additional  fame  by  his 
perfect  seamanship,  and  was  directly  and  materially  instrumental 
in  producing  an  open  rupture  between  England  and  Holland. 
It  is  not  doubted  that  this  contingency  was  contemplated,  when 
he  had  orders  to  make  the  Texel  his  port  of  destination. 

By  the  portions  of  Franklin's  correspondence  with  Jones, 
which  have  been  extracted,  the  reader  will  have  understood  the 
difficulties  which  prevented  any  vessels  or  naval  stores  intended 
for  the  service  of  the  United  States  from  being  openly  taken 
out  of  the  ports  of  Holland,  a  nominally  neutral  power,  which 
had  not  yet  recognised  the  independence  of  the  abjuring  Colo- 
nies, and  was  bound  to  England  by  ancient  treaties.  Both 
the  letter  and  the  spirit  of  these  had  indeed  been  violated ;  and 
so  far  as  that  of  1678,  which  bound  their  high  mightinesses  to 
break  with  any  aggressor  against  their  ally,  it  had  been  treated  as 
obsolete.  And  they  were  preparing  to  accede  to  the  system  of 
an  armed  neutrality,  proposed  by  Russia,  though  the  treaty  was 
not  signed  until  the  middle  of  the  following  year.  The  mer- 
chants of  Amsterdam,  and  the  Grand  Pensionary  were  earnestly 
desirous  of  the  success  of  the  American  arms.  Secret  negotia- 
tions had  been  pending,  and  the  form  of  a  treaty  of  amity  and 
commerce  was  found  among  the  papers  of  Mr.  Laurens,  thrown 
overboard  by  him  previous  to  his  capture,  but  recovered,  which 
led  the  government  of  Britain  to  give  immediate  attention  to  all 
that  was  passing  in  the  ports  of  Holland,  and  to  give  particular 
instructions  to  their  minister,  Sir  Joseph  Yorke,  who  faithfully 
executed  them.  It  is  necessary  to  refer  to  these  well  known 
matters  of  history,  in  connecting  this  biography. 

. 


PAUL   JONES.  203 

M.  de  la  Sartine  addressed  Franklin  on  the  5th  September, 
in  relation  to  the  scheme  of  bringing  out  the  Indien  and  other 
ships,  designated  as  Dutch  and  neutral,  which  were  at  the  king's 
charge,  and  sundry  munitions  of  war,  which  the  minister  styles, 
"  tres  interessantes,"  from  the  ports  of  Holland  into  those  of 
France.  He  had  given  orders,  he  said,  that  they  should  be  in 
readiness  by  the  expiration  of  the  month,  when  the  limitation 
of  Jones'  cruise  would  expire  ;  in  order  that  he  might  attend  to 
them,  under  the  instructions  of  the  American  ambassador.  A 
copy  of  this  letter  awaited  Jones  on  his  arrival  in  the  Texel 
road,  with  a  request  from  Franklin,  that  "  he  would  do  his  ut- 
most to  render  the  service  therein  mentioned  effectual ;  which 
would,  in  the  then  pending  instance,  be  very  advantageous  to 
the  common  cause,  and  very  acceptable  to  his  majesty."  "  It 
would  be  well  for  him,"  it  was  added,  "  to  keep  his  intention  of 
conveying  those  vessels  as  secret  as  possible,  lest  notice  of  it 
should  be  sent  to  England,  and  ships  placed  to  intercept  him." 
Jones  has  made  a  memorandum  on  this  passage,  which  has  been 
already  referred  to ;  "I  found  our  object  in  the  public  papers, 
when  I  arrived  in  Holland ;  and  Sir  Joseph  Yorke  had  sent  off 
an  express  to  England,  informing  also  that  part  of  my  business 
here  would  be  to  take  out  the  Indien.  I  was  then  under  the 
necessity,  to  represent  the  want  of  secrecy  of  M.  Chaumont  to 
court,  and  to  complain  of  his  conduct  towards  me  in  the  affair 
of  the  Concordat." 

As  the  eyes  of  the  English  ministry  were  fixed  upon  Holland, 
and  there  was  no  lack  of  agents  to  give  them  information,  that 
of  M.  Chaumont  would  seem,  at  the  present  day,  to  have  been 
gratuitous.  Nor  was  there  any  want  of  ships  to  intercept  Jones 
The  battle  with  the  Serapis  had  not  been  fought  in  a  corner. 
The  mind,  through  the  whole  scale  of  intellect,  from  the  high- 
est to  the  meanest,  and  from  the  hero  to  the  hireling,  is  subject 
to  the  same  "  like  passions."  A  steam  pipe  for  the  escape  of 
surplus  vexation  is  not  always  philosophically  selected ;  and  if 
Jones  occasionally  ascribed  a  change  in  the  wind,  a  timid  and 
deceitful  course  of  policy,  or  the  presence  of  some  seventy-four?, 


204  PAUL  JONES. 

to  the  unhappy  "  concordat,"  it  was  but  the  common  ernjr  of 
humanity,  when  tried  as  his  nature  was. 

Immediately  on  arriving  in  the  Texel  road,  on  the  3d  of 
October,  he  addressed  an  account  of  his  cruise  to  the  American 
ambassador,  copies  of  which  were  sent  to  the  President  of  Con- 
gress, and  to  the  French  minister.  The  body  of  this  despatch 
has  already  been  inserted.  The  conclusion  was  as  follows : 

"  I  am  in  the  highest  degree  sensible  of  the  singular  atten 
tions  which  I  have  experienced  from  the  court  of  France,  which 
I  shall  remember  with  perfect  gratitude  until  the  end  of  my  life, 
and  will  always  endeavour  to  merit,  while  I  can,  consistent  with 
my  honour,  continue  in  the  public  service.  I  must  speak  plainly : 
as  I  have  been  always  honoured  with  the  full  confidence  of  Con- 
gress, and  as  I  also  flattered  myself  with  enjoying  in  some  mea- 
sure the  confidence  of  the  court  of  France,  I  could  not  but  be 
astonished  at  the  conduct  of  Monsieur  de  Chaumont,  when,  in 
the  moment  of  my  departure  from  Groix,  he  produced  a  paper, 
a  concordat,  for  me  to  sign,  in  common  with  the  officers  whom 
I  had  commissioned  but  a  few  days  before.  Had  that  paper, 
or  even  a  less  dishonourable  one,  been  proposed  to  me  at  the 
beginning,  I  would  have  rejected  it  with  just  contempt,  and  the 
word  deplacement,  among  others,  should  have  been  necessary. 
I  cannot,  however,  even  now  suppose  that  he  was  authorised  by 
the  court  to  make  such  a  bargain  with  me.  Nor  can  I  suppose 
that  the  minister  of  the  marine  meant  that  M.  de  Chaumont 
should  consider  me  merely  as  a  colleague  with  the  commanders 
of  the  other  ships,  and  communicate  to  them  not  only  all  he 
knew,  but  all  he  thought  respecting  our  destination  and  opera- 
tions. M.  de  Chaumont  has  made  me  various  reproaches  on 
account  of  the  expense  of  the  Bon  Homme  Richard,  wherewith 
I  cannot  think  I  have  been  justly  chargeable.  M.  de  Cha- 
millard  can  attest,  that  the  Bon  Homme  Richard  was  at  last 
far  from  being  well  fitted  or  armed  for  war.  If  any  person  or 
persons,  who  have  been  charged  with  the  expense  of  that  arma- 
ment have  acted  wrong,  the  fault  must  not  be  laid  to  my  charge. 
I  had  no  authority  to  superintend  that  armament,  and  the  per- 


PAUL   JONES.  205 

sons  who  had  authority,  were  so  far  from  giving  me  what  I 
thought  necessary,  that  M.  de  Chaumont  even  refused,  among 
other  things,  to  allow  me  irons  to  secure  the  prisoners  of  war. 

"  In  short,  while  my  life  remains,  if  I  have  any  capacity  to 
render  good  and  acceptable  services  to  the  common  cause,  no 
man  will  step  forth  with  greater  cheerfulness  and  alacrity  than 
myself;  but  I  am  not  made  to  be  dishonoured,  nor  can  I  accept 
of  the  half  confidence  of  any  man  living.  Of  course  I  cannot, 
consistent  with  my  honour,  and  a  prospect  of  success,  undertake 
future  expeditions,  unless  when  the  object  and  destination  is 
communicated  to  me  alone,  and  to  no  other  person  in  the  ma- 
rine line.  In  cases  where  troops  are  embarked,  a  like  confi- 
dence is  due  alone  to  their  commander  in  chief.  On  no  other 
condition  will  I  ever  undertake  the  chief  command  of  a  private 
expedition  ;  and  when  I  do  not  command  in  chief,  I  have  no 
desire  to  be  in  the  secret. 

"  Upon  the  whole,  the  captain  of  the  Alliance  has  behaved  so 
very  ill  in  every  respect,  that  I  must  complain  loudly  of  his  con- 
duct. He  pretends  that  he  is  authorised  to  act  independent  of 
my  command  ;  I  have  been  taught  the  contrary  ;  but  supposing 
it  to  be  so,  his  conduct  has  been  base  and  unpardonable.  M. 
de  Chamillard  will  explain  the  particulars.  Either  Captain 
Landais  or  myself  is  highly  criminal,  and  one  or  the  other 
must  be  punished.  I  forbear  to  take  any  steps  with  him  until 
I  have  the  advice  and  approbation  of  your  excellency.  I  have 
been  advised  by  all  the  officers  of  the  squadron  to  put  M.  Lan- 
dais under  arrest ;  but  as  I  have  postponed  it  so  long,  I  will 
bear  with  him  a  little  longer,  until  the  return  of  my  express. 

"  We  this  day  anchored  here,  having  since  the  action  been 
tossed  to  and  fro  by  contrary  winds.  I  wished  to  have  gained 
the  road  of  Dunkirk  on  account  of  our  prisoners,  but  was  over- 
ruled by  the  majority  of  my  colleagues.  I  shall  hasten  up  to 
Amsterdam,  and  there,  if  I  meet  with  no  orders  for  my  govern- 
ment, I  will  take  the  advice  of  the  French  ambassador.  It  is 
my  present  intention  to  have  the  Countess  of  Scarborough  ready 
to  transport  the  prisoners  from  hence  to  Dunkirk,  unless  it 


206  PAUL  JONES. 

should  be  found  more  expedient  to  deliver  them  to  the  i*ighsr. 
ambassador,  taking  his  obligation  to  send  to  Dunkirk,  &c.  im- 
mediately an  equal  number  of  American  prisoners.  I  am  under 
strong  apprehensions  that  our  object  here  will  fail,  and  that 
through  the  imprudence  of  M.  de  Chaumont,  who  has  commu- 
nicated every  thing  he  knew  or  thought  on  the  matter,  to  per- 
sons who  cannot  help  talking  of  it  at  a  full  table.  This  is  the 
way  he  keeps  state  secrets,  though  he  never  mentioned  the 
affair  to  me." 

Hitherto,  deeming  it  unwise  to  break  with  M.  Chaumont, 
and  feeling  that  personal  regard,  which  supposed  grounds  for 
complaint  against  its  object  had  not  overcome,  Jones  had  not 
directly  intimated  to  him  the  charges  of  moral  weakness,  which 
he  had  made  in  his  letters  of  a  confidential  character.  The  com- 
munication of  those  charges  was  now  inevitable  ;  and  in  the  fol- 
lowing letter,  written  on  the  same  day  on  which  the  account  of 
the  cruise  is  dated,  it  will  be  seen  that,  acting  on  his  impression 
that  his  correspondent's  mind  was  not  well  balanced,  he  express- 
ed himself  with  a  happy  mixture  of  frankness  and  dexterity. 

"  On  board  the  Ship  of  War  the  Serapis,  at  anchor 
loithout  the  Texel,  October  3,  1779. 

"  M.  LE  RAY  DE  CHAUMONT,  a  Passy. 

"  The  original  of  the  enclosed  copy  of  my  last  letter,  written 
on  board  the  Bon  Homme  Richard,  off  the  S.  W.  coast  of  Ire- 
land, the  24th  of  August,  as  well  as  the  papers  which  preceded 
it,  and  to  which  it  alludes,  I  hope  duly  reached  the  hands  of  my 
friend  M.  de  Chaumont,  and  explained  to  his  satisfaction  my 
conduct  from  the  time  I  left  Groix  until  that  date.  For  the  full 
history  of  my  expedition,  I  must  beg  leave  to  refer  you  to  a 
letter  of  this  date,  which  accompanies  this,  to  his  excellency  Dr. 
Franklin,  who  will,  if  you  demand  it,  furnish  you  with  a  copy. 

.  "  I  wish  to  act  a  candid  part  towards  all  men,  and  therefore 
wish  you  to  have  a  copy  of  that  letter,  that  you  may  see  my 
sentiments  respecting  the  '  concordat,'  which  you  imposed  upon 
me  in  the  moment  of  my  departure  from  Groix.  What  could 
have  inspired  you  with  such  sentiments  of  distrust  towards  me, 


PATTL    JONE6.  20? 

after  the  ocular  proofs  of  hospitality  which  I  so  long  expe- 
rienced in  your  house,  and  after  the  warm  expressions  of  gene- 
rous and  unbounded  friendship,  which  I  had  constantly  heen 
honoured  with  in  your  letters,  exceeds  my  mental  faculties  to 
comprehend.  I  am,  however,  yet  willing  to  give  you  an  oppor- 
tunity of  rendering  justice  to  my  character.  I  cannot  think  you 
are  personally  my  enemy.  I  rather  imagine  that  your  conduct 
towards  me  at  L' Orient,  has  arisen  from  the  base  misrepresent- 
ation of  some  secret  villainy;  therefore,  I  am,  with  unaltered 
sentiments  of  good  will  and  affection  for  yourself  and  family, 

"  My  dear  friend, 
"  Your  obliged,  humble  servant." 

The  most  offensive  provision  of  the  concordat  was,  it  may  be 
presumed,  that  which  gave  the  commanders  the  right  to  succeed 
in  order,  in  case  of  death  or  retreat.  Without  this  privilege,  it 
is  not  probable  that  they  would  have  agreed  to  sail  on  the  pro- 
jected cruise.  But  the  independence  which  it  made  them  feel, 
no  doubt  gave  rise  to  the  want  of  subordination,  which  Jones 
had  so  much  reason  to  complain  of.  Without  taking  this  into 
consideration1,  the  i-eader  may  be  at  a  loss  to  account  for  the 
strong  language  employed  in  the  foregoing  extract,  and  when- 
ever the  concordat  is  adverted  to  by  the  commander  of  the 
squadron. 

On  the  5th,  Jones  'addressed  the  Duke  de  la  Vauguyon, 
ambassador  of  France  at  the  Hague.  The  return  of  his  pri- 
soners was  not  completed,  but  he  rated  it  at  three  hundred  and 
fifty,  of  whom  one  hundred  and  thirty  were  wounded.  The  total 
number,  however,  exceeded  five  hundred.  He  asked  the  advice 
of  the  ambassador,  as  to  what  measures  he  should  adopt  in 
relation  to  them  ;  and  whether  it  would  be  advisable  to  set  them 
free  at  the  Texel,  on  such  security  as  might  be  obtained  for  the 
liberation  of  an  equal  number  of  Americans  in  England, 
or  to  send  them  to  Dunkirk  in  the  Countess  of  Scarborough, 
which  was  not  fit  for  service,  and  the  Vengeance,  which  might 
return  with  as  many  recruits  as  could  be  obtained.  He  also 


208  PAUL   JONES. 

stated  his  inability  to  comply  with  the  instructions  received 
from  Franklin,  through  M.  Dumas,  without  great  and  instant 
assistance.  Though  the  hull  of  the  Serapis  was  not  too  much 
damaged  to  be  easily  repaired,  she  wanted  entirely  new  masts 
and  rigging,  sails,  boats,  and  provisions. 

M.  Dumas,  the  then  unrecognised  agent  for  the  U.  S.  was 
enthusiastic  in  his  diplomacy,  and  this  was  a  misfortune.  It  is 
impossible  to  read  his  letters,  without  coinciding  in  opinion  with 
those  who  have  commented  on  the  events  of  this  period,  that 
there  was  more  affectation  than  ingenuity  in  the  mystery  he 
assumed ;  and  more  ardour  than  utility  in  his  impulses  and 
movements.  He  was,  however,  a  true  friend  of  freedom  and 
of  America.  A  letter  which  he  wrote  to  Jones  on  the  9th,  is  an 
amusing  specimen  of  unnecessary  mysticism.  By  taking  the  risk 
of  aping  CEdipus,  one  might  learn  from  it  that  Jones  had  been  at 
the  Hague,  where  he  had  an  interview  with  "  the  great  man," 
meaning  the  French  ambassador.  We  learn  from  his  Journal, 
that  Jones  was  sent  for  by  this  gentleman,  who  agreed  with  him 
in  thinking  it  would  be  most  expedient  to  send  the  prisoners  to 
Dunkirk  as  soon  as  it  could  possibly  be  done.  But,  before 
making  the  attempt,  it  was  agreed  to  remast :  the  Serapis,  as 
they  were  already  apprised  that  smajl  squadrons  had  been 
detached  by  the  English  government,  to  intercept  Jones,  on  the 
east  coast  of  England  and  Scotland,  the  coast  of  Norway,  in  the 
Irish  channel,  on  the  west  of  Ireland,  and  in  the  straits  of 
Dover.  M.  Dumas,  says  in  his  official  despatches  to  the  com- 
mittee of  foreign  affairs,  that  Jones  arrived  at  the  Hague  on 
the  8th,  with  a  single  domestic,  and  remained  only  until  the  next 
day,  when  he  took  post  for  Amsterdam.  It  appears  from  the 
beginning  of  the  mysterious  letter  referred  to  above,  that  the 
commodore  missed  the  post,  or  mail  wagon,  which  "  half  dis- 
tracted" M.  Dumas  when  he  heard  of  it ;  but  he  was  "  restored 
to  his  senses"  by  a  coachman,  who  told  him  that  Jones  had 
overtaken  it  at  the  distance  of  eight  or  nine  miles  from  the 
Hague.  M.  Dumas  talks  also  of  "  a  man  in  high  station  in  the 
country,"  meaning,  it  is  to  be  supposed,  Mr.  Van  Berckel,  the 


PAUL   JONES.  209 

Grand  Pensionary  of  Amsterdam,  before  whom  he  had  laid 
certain  matters  at  which  he  hints  in  idle  riddles.  The  "  man 
in  high  station"  recommended  expedition  in  preparing  for  what- 
ever was  to  be  done,  and  informed  M.  Dumas,  that  there  was 
a  law,  limiting  the  period  during  which  foreign  ships  of  war 
were  allowed  to  wait  for  repairs  in  that  port,  when  the  wind 
permitted  them  to  go  out.  M.  Dumas  enclosed  his  own  in- 
structions, signed  by  M.  Chaumont,  and  approved  by  Franklin. 
These  were,  to  recommend  the  greatest  circumspection  to  all 
the  commanders  of  the  squadron  under  the  American  flag,  in 
their  behaviour  while  in  Holland,  and  to  give  the  earliest  advice 
of  its  arrival,  in  order  that  such  supplies  might  be  immediately 
forwarded  as  should  be  necessary,  "  without  giving  cause  for 
any  question  being  agitated,  which  might  embarrass  the  Dutch 
in  the  conduct  they  thought  it  for  their  interest  to  observe 
towards  England." 

On  the  9th,  Sir  Joseph  Yorke  sent  his  official  communication 
to  their  high  mightinesses,  in  relation  to  the  presence  of  the 
squadron.  As  it  is  brief,  we  insert  it. 

"  HIGH  AND  MIGHTY  LORDS, 

"  The  undersigned,  ambassador  extraordinary  and  plenipo- 
tentiary of  the  king  of  Great  Britain,  has  the  honour  to  com- 
municate to  your  high  mightinesses,  that  two  of  his  majesty's 
ships,  the  Serapis  and  the  Countess  of  Scarborough,  arrived 
some  days  ago  in  the  Texel,  having  been  attacked  and  taken 
by  force,  by  a  certain  Paul  Jones,  a  subject  of  the  king,  who 
according  to  treaties  and  the  laws  of  war,  can  only  be  considered 
as  a  rebel  and  a  pirate.  The  undersigned  is  therefore  in  duty 
bound  to  recur  to  your  high  mightinesses  and  demand  their 
immediate  orders  that  those  ships  with  their  officers  and  crews 
may  be  stopped,  and  he  especially  recommends  to  your 
humanity,  to  permit  the  wounded  to  be  brought  on  shore,  that 
proper  attention  may  be  paid  to  them,  at  the  expense  of  the 
king  ?is  master. 

"  YORKE." 
26 


210  PAUL   JONES. 

When  writing  to  Dr.  Franklin,  on  the  llth,  Jones  was 
not  apprised  of  this  memorial  having  been  presented.  He 
stated,  that  he  was  doing  all  in  his  power  to  act  upon  the 
advice  given  by  the  French  ambassador.  He  also  expressed 
his  determination  to  keep  the  captain  of  the  Serapis  in  his  hands, 
as  a  hostage,  until  Captain  Cunningham,  who  was  a  prisoner 
in  England,  should  be  released.  He  said,  "  I  wish  heartily  that 
poor  Cunningham,  (whom  I  am  taught  to  regard  as  a  conti- 
nental officer,)  was  exchanged ;  as  with  his  assistance  I  could 
form  a  court  martial,  which  I  believe  you  will  see  unavoida- 
ble."* Of  Captain  Landais,  he  says :  "  he  has  come  up  here,  and 
purposes,  after  gadding  about  in  this  city,  to  figure  away  at  the 
Hague.  He  continues  to  affect  an  entire  independence  of  my 
control,  and  has  given  in  here  an  extraordinary  demand  for 
supplies  of  every  kind.  This  famous  demand,  however,  1  have 
ventured  to  disapprove,  and  reduced  to,  I  believe,  a  fourth  part 
of  its  first  extent.  I  hope  to  account  to  your  satisfaction  for  my 
reasons ;  among  which  is  his  having  been  so  plentifully  and  so 
lately  furnished." 

This  valiant  and  "  scattering"  hero,  was,  according  to  several 
accounts  besides  this,  making  a  famous  report  of  his  own  ex- 
ploits. The  terms  of  this  extract  show  the  manner  in  which 
Jones  felt  disposed  to  treat  him  ;  which  was,  with  contempt,  not 
so  openly  expressed  as  to  injure  the  service.  He  thought  him 
of  too  little  consequence  to  put  him  under  arrest,  at  the  risk  of 
giving  rise  to  dissatisfaction  among  the  French.  This  com- 
mand of  his  temper,  however,  was  such  as  less  irritable  discipli 

*  I  find  no  mention  made  in  what  are  called  the  Naval  Chronicles  of  the  United 
States,  of  a  commission  having  been  given  to  Captain  Cunningham  in  the  navy.  Ac- 
cording to  Goldsborough,  page  31,  he  received  a  commission  for  a  privateer  from 
Franklin  and  Deane.  His  cruise  in  the  British  channel  made  his  name  terrible  in 
the  mouths  of  the  vulgar.  When  he  was  captured  in  1778,  and  detained  in  the  harbour 
of  New  York,  he  was  treated  with  such  severity,  that  Congress  twice  passed  resolu- 
tion*, threatening  retaliation.  A  burlesque  representation  of  him  was  exhibited  in 
London  So  says  the  authority  cited.  He  was  at  this  time  detained  in  England. 


PAUL   JUNES.  211 

narians  might  not  have  shown,  even  though  good  policy  required 
it ;  and  his  coolness  and  constant  attention  to  the  necessary 
business  of  refitting  his  squadron  and  disposing  of  the  prisoners, 
during  all  the  pending  consultations  in  which  he  was  so  deeply 
interested,  have  been  deservedly  commented  on  as  proving  his 
capacity  for  the  conduct  of  political  movements  of  importance. 
A  very  excellent  man,  the  Baron  V7ander  Capellen,  who  was,  as 
he  styles  himself,  "  an  old  and  tried  friend  of  America,"  and 
a  member  of  the  house  of  nobles  of  the  province  of  Overyssel, 
wrote  to  Jones  at  this  time,  apparently  instigated  by  the  con- 
versation to  which  the  valorous  stories  of  M.  Landais  gave  birth, 
asking  as  a  favour,  an  account  of  the  particulars  "  relating  to  a 
sea  fight,  rather  to  be  found  in  the  books  of  the  former  century, 
than  in  our  present  age,  on  the  ocean." 

Jones  wrote  to  the  baron  a  respectful  and  discrete  reply, 
enclosing  a  copy  of  his  account  of  the  cruise,  with  other  docu- 
ments relative  to  his  adventures.  M.  Dumas  begged  him  not 
send  the  former,  in  its  whole  extent,  as  it  would  be  improper 
for  M.  de  Capelle,  as  he  chose  to  designate  that  gentleman,  to 
be  acquainted  with  the  complaints  against  M.  de  Chaumont 
He  also  informed  Jones,  that  the  baron,  though  a  "  very  good 
republican,"  and  a  "  well  thinking  private,"  knew  nothing  of  the 
secret  of  his  negociations  with  the  "  two  great  men,"  and  was 
"  excluded  from  any  share  of  government  in  his  country." 
The  letter  of  Jones,  to  M.  Vander  Capellen  contained  the  iol- 
lowing  passage : 

"  I  was,  indeed,  born  in  Britain ;  but  I  do  not  inherit  the 
degenerate  spirit  of  that  fallen  nation,  which  I  at  once  lament 
and  despise.  It  is  far  beneath  me  to  reply  to  their  hireling  in- 
vectives. They  are  strangers  to  the  inward  approbation  that 
greatly  animates  and  rewards  the  man  who  draws  his  sword 
only  in  support  of  the  dignity  of  freedom.  America  has  been 
the  country  of  my  fond  election,  from  the  age  of  thirteen, 
when  I  first  saw  it.  I  had  the  honour  to  hoist  with  my  own 
hands  the  flag  of  freedom,  the  first  time  it  was  displayed  on  the 
river  Delaware ;  and  I  have  attended  it  with  veneration  ever 


212  .  PAUL   JONLS. 

since  on  the  ocean.  I  see  it  respected  even  here,  in  spite  of 
the  pitiful  Sir  Joseph ;  and  I  ardently  wish  and  hope  very  soon 
to  exchange  a  salute  with  the  flag  of  this  republic.  Let  but 
the  two  republics  join  hands,  and  they  will  give  peace  to  the 
world." 

It  would,  indeed,  have  been  singular,  if  the  burghers  of  Old 
Amsterdam  had  not  felt  sympathy  for  the  fortunes  of  a  people, 
some  of  whose  most  prosperous  settlements  had  been  made  by 
their  own  ancestors;  in  which,  though  wrested  from  their  sway, 
so  much  of  their  good  habits  was  still  preserved,  and  above  all 
their  pure  and  uncorrupted  religion.  Old  and  sacred  associa- 
tions, commercial  interests,  and  a  like  political  feeling,  made  a 
strong  party  there,  naturally  attached  to  the  cause  of  American 
independence. 

The  letter  from  Franklin,  dated  on  the  15th  October,  in 
reply  to  the  despatches  of  Jones,  dated  the  3d,  was  as  follows  : 
and  must  have  been  so  gratifying  to  him  who  received  it,  that 
it  needs  no  commentary;  but  every  line,  including  the  postscript, 
is  worthy  of  attention. 

"I  received  the  account  of  your  cruise  and  engagement  with 
the  Serapis,  which  you  did  me  the  honour  to  send  me  from  the 
Texel.  I  have  since  received  your  favour  of  the  8th,  from 
Amsterdam.  For  some  days  after  the  arrival  of  your  express, 
scarce  any  thing  was  talked  of  at  Paris  and  Versailles,  but  your 
co^l  conduct,  and  persevering  bravery  during  that  terrible  con- 
flict. You  may  believe,  that  the  impression  on  my  mind  was 
not  less  strong  than  that  of  others  ;  but  I  do  not  choose  to  say 
in  a  letter  to  yourself  all  I  think  on  such  an  occasion. 

"  The  ministry  are  much  dissatisfied  with  Captain  Landais, 
and  Monsieur  de  Sartine  has  signified  to  me  in  writing  that  it 
is  expected  that  I  should  send  for  him  to  Paris,  and  call  him  to 
account  for  his  conduct,  particularly  for  deferring  so  long  his 
coming  to  your  assistance  ;  by  which  means,  it  is  supposed,  the 
States  lost  some  of  their  valuable  citizens,  and  the  king  lost 
man  '  of  his  subjects,  volunteers  in  your  ship,  together  with  the 
shn  itself. 


PAUL  JONES.  213 

"  I  have,  accordingly,  written  to  him  this  day,  acquainting 
him.  that  he  is  charged  with  disobedience  of  orders  in  the  cruise, 
and  neglect  of  his  duty  in  the  engagement ;  that  a  court  martial 
being  at  this  time  inconvenient,  if  not  impracticable,  I  would 
give  him  an  earlier  opportunity  of  offering  what  he  has  to  say 
in  his  justification,  and  for  that  purpose  direct  him  to  render 
himself  immediately  here,  bringing  with  him  such  papers  or 
testimonies  as  he  may  think  useful  in  his  defence.  I  know  not 
whether  he  will  obey  my  orders,  nor  what  the  ministry  would 
do  with  him  if  he  comes  ;  but  I  suspect  that  they  may,  by  some 
of  their  concise  operations,  save  the  trouble  of  a  court  martial. 
It  will,  however,  be  well  for  you  to  furnish  me  with  what  you 
may  judge  proper  to  support  the  charges  against  him,  that  I  may 
be  able  to  give  a  just  and  clear  account  to  Congress.  In  the 
mean  time  it  will  be  necessary,  if  he  should  refuse  to  come, 
that  you  should  put  him  under  an  arrest ;  and  in  that  case,  as 
well  as  if  he  comes,  that  you  should  either  appoint  some  person 
to  the  command,  or  take  it  upon  yourself ;  for  I  know  of  no 
person  to  recommend  to  you  as  fit  for  that  station. 

"  I  am  uneasy  about  your  prisoners,  (504  in  number,)  I  wish 
they  were  safe  in  France.  You  will  then  have  completed  the 
glorious  work  of  giving  liberty  to  all  the  Americans  that  have 
so  long  languished  for  it  in  the  British  prisons  ;  for  there  are 
not  so  many  there,  as  you  have  now  taken. 

"I  have  the  pleasure  to  inform  you  that  the  two  prizes  sent 
to  Norway,  are  safely  arrived  at  Bergen. 

"  With  the  highest  esteem,  I  am,  &c. 

"  B.  FRANKLIN. 

"  P.  S.  I  am  sorry  for  your  misunderstanding  with  M.  de  C. 
who  has  a  great  regard  for  you." 

From  the  contents  of  a  note  from  Captain  Pearson  to  Jones, 
written  on  the  19th  of  this  month,  it  is  to  be  inferred,  that  the 
former  was  not  apprised  of  the  application  made  by  Sir  Joseph 
Yorke  to  their  high  mightinesses  ;  or,  at  least,  of  its  terms  and 
tenor.  He  charged  Jones  very  plainly  with  a  breach  of  the 


214  PAUL    JONES. 

civility  due  to  his  rank,  as  well  as  his  behaviour  on  all  occasions, 
and  expressed  his  opinion,  that  the  detention  of  himself  and  his 
people  on  board  ship  for  so  long  a  time,  was  an  unprecedented 
thing.  Jones  informed  him,  that  the  memorial  of  Sir  Joseph, 
of  which  he  enclosed  him  a  copy,  had  induced  him  to  think  it 
fruitless  to  pursue  negotiations  for  the  exchange  of  prisoners  ; 
but  that  humanity  had  made  him  seek  for  permission  to  land 
the  dangerously  wounded.  The  consent  of  the  government 
had  been  obtained,  but  the  local  magistrates  still  raised  objec- 
tions. His  reply  was  couched  in  terms  of  moderation,  highly 
commendable,  if  we  consider  the  epithets  which  the  English 
ambassador  had  applied  to  him,  and  the  bold,  blunt  style  of 
Pearson's  note. 

"  I  wished,"  he  said,  "  to  avoid  any  painful  altercation  with 
you  on  that  subject ;  I  was  persuaded  that  you  had  been  in  the 
highest  degree  sensible,  that  my  behaviour  '  towards  you  had 
been  far  from  a  breach  of  civility.'  This  charge  is  not,  sir,  a 
civil  return  for  the  polite  hospitality  and  disinterested  attentions, 
which  you  have  hitherto  experienced.  I  know  not  what  differ- 
ence of  respect  is  due  to  '  rank,'  between  your  service  and  ours  ; 
I  suppose,  however,  the  difference  must  be  thought  very  great  in 
England,  since  I  am  informed  that  Captain  Cunningham,  of  equal 
denomination,  and  who  bears  a  senior  rank  in  the  service  of 
America,  than  yours  in  the  service  of  England,  is  now  confined 
at  Plymouth,  in  a  dungeon,  and  in  fetters."* 

He  concluded  by  beseeching  Pearson  to  interfere  in  behalf  of 
this  officer,  as  he  expected  orders  from  Dr.  Franklin,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  treatment  he  was  receiving. 

The  resolution  of  their  high  mightinesses  upon  the  application 
of  the  English  ambassador,  was  delivered  to  him  on  the  35th. 


*  As  has  been  before  remarked,  the  name  of  Captain  Cunningham  is  not  to  be  found 
in  any  of  the  lists  of  officers  commissioned  by  Congress,  before  this  period,  which  are 
contained  in  Sherburne  or  the  Naval  Chronicles.  Jones  in  a  letter  to  Franklin,  which 
has  been  quoted,  speaks  of "  being  taught  to  regard  him  as  a  continental  officer," 
seeming  to  imply  that  he  was  not  such  absolutely.  I  am  unable  to  account  for  this, 
in  connexion  with  the  above  assertion  of  his  rank. 


PAUL   JONES,  215 

It  was  prudently  worded,  setting  forth  that  for  a  century,  the 
Spates  General  had  strictly  observed  it  as  a  maxim,  never  to 
pretend  to  judge  of  the  legality  or  illegality  of  captures  of  vessels 
brought  into  the  ports  of  the  republic,  not  belonging  to  it ;  that 
they  only  opened  their  ports  to  give  shelter,  to  those  making  such 
captures,  from  storms  or  disasters,  and  obliged  them  to  put  to  sea 
again  without  unloading  ;  that  they  ware  not  authorised  to  pass 
judgment  upon  either  the  prizes  or  the  person  of  Paul  Jones ;  and 
that  they  had  already  evinced  their  willingness  to  discharge  the 
offices  of  humanity,  by  the  orders  they  had  given  in  relation  to  the 
wounded  prisoners.  This  resolution  was  an  echo  and  confirma- 
tion of  one  passed  by  the  nobles  and  burgesses  of  the  province 
of  Holland,  four  days  previous,  as  appears  by  the  endorsement 
of  M.  Dumas,  who  said,  in  his  official  letter  to  the  committee  of 
foreign  affairs,  that  the  latter  might  truly  be  called  voxpopuli.* 
1,1 

*  The  ordinance  of  the  States  General  referred  to  in  their  reply,  had 
been  passed  and  published  as  a  placard,  by  the  cautious  republic  in 
November,  1756.  On  the  8th  of  October,  five  days  after  Jones'  arrival 
at  the  Texel,  the  Admiralty  college  of  Amsterdam  informed  their  high 
mightinesses,  that  Captain  Rimersina  the  commandant,  during  the 
absence  of  Vice  Admiral  Reynst  in  the  Texel  road,  had  announced  to 
them  the  entrance  of  five  vessels  under  the  command  of  Paul  Jones, 
who  had  asked  permission  of  him  to  land  the  English  captains,  and  to 
hire  a  house  for  the  reception  of  the  wounded ;  that  they  had  replied, 
that  neither  request  could  be  granted  by  them,  and  had  referred  to  the 
terms  of  the  placard. 

On  the  same  8th,  the  high  mightinesses  requested  the  opinion  of  the  col- 
lege of  Admiralty,  on  the  memorial  of  Sir  Joseph  Yorke,  to  which,  (reca- 
pitulating their  former  communication,  that  they  considered  the  ordi- 
nanceof  1756  as  plain  and  imperative,  but  not  inconsistent  with  the  dic- 
tates of  humanity,  which  would  be  to  permit  the  ships  to  make  actually 
necessary  repairs,  and  allow  the  sick  and  wounded  attendance,)  they  re- 
plied that  they  would  already  have  given  orders  to  this  effect,  if  they  had 
considered  themselves  authorised  so  to  do,  but  submitted  to  their  high 
mightinesses  that  it  was  expedient.  This  communication  was  made  on 
the  12th,  and  referred  for  consideration  to  the  deputies  for  marine  affairs. 


216  PAUL..  JONES. 

Sir  Joseph  Yorke  from  his  long  residence  at  the  Hague,  had 
obtained  great  influence  over  the  Prince  of  Orange  and  what 
might  be  called  the  court  party,  as  those  opposed  to  English 
dictation  were  termed  the  French  party.     He  was  rewarded 
afterwards  with  a  peerage  for  his  services  as  a  minister.     He 
was  far  from  being  satisfied  with  the  negative  protection  yielded 
by  the  States  General  to  "  the  pirate  Paul  Jones,"  as  he  again 
called  him  in  a  memorial  presented  on  the  29th.     In  this  com- 
munication, after  thanking  their  high  mightinesses  for  their 
orders  in  relation  to  the  wounded,  he  added:  "I  cannot  but 
comply  with  the  strict  orders  of  his  majesty,  by  renewing  in  the 
strongest  and  most  pressing  manner  his  request,  that  these  ships 
and  their  crews  may  be  stopped  and  delivered  up,  which  the 
pirate  Paul  Jones,  of  Scotland,  who  is  a  rebel  subject  and  a 
criminal  of  the  state,  has  taken. 

"  The  king  would  think  he  derogated  from  his  own  dignity, 
as  well  as  that  of  your  high  mightinesses,  were  he  to  enter  into 
the  particulars  of  a  case  so  notorious  as  that  in  question,  or  to 


A  resolution  was  passed  by  the  States  Generel  on  the  15th,  expressed 
to  be  in  consequence  of  the  representation  of  the  president  of  the 
assembly,  on  the  information  of  Sir  Joseph  Yorke,  by  which,  without 
prejudice  to  the  ulterior  deliberations  of  their  high  mightinesses  on  his 
memorial,  the  college  of  Admiralty  of  Amsterdam  was  authorised  to 
permit  the  sick  and  wounded  to  be  removed  on  shore,  or  to  a  hospital 
ship,  and  to  furnish  needful  medical  attendance.     A  very  cautious 
proviso  was  added,  that  no  change  should  be  considered  to  have  taken 
place  in  the  relations  of  the  parties,  in  consequence  of  this  arrange- 
ment ;  that  the  States  General  would  be  responsible  for  no  escapes ; 
and  that  not  more  than  three  or  four  men,  not  sick  or  wounded,  should 
be  permitted  to  land  from  the  ships,  armed  only  with  swords ;  and 
that  nothing  should  be  done  in  the  premises,  without  the   knowledge 
and  approbation  of  the  officer  commanding  the  vessels  of  the  republic 
lying  in  the  road,  and  the  local  authorities  of  the  place  where  the 
wounded  might  be  disembarked.     On  the  21st,  the  assembly  of  Hol- 
land and  Westfrize  passed  the  resolution  referred  to  in  the  text. 


PAUL   JONES.  217 

set  before  the  eyes  of  the  ancient  friends  and  allies  of  his  crown, 
analogous  examples  of  other  princes  and  states ;  but  will  only 
remark,  that  all  the  placards  even  of  your  high  mightinesses 
require  that  all  the  captains  of  foreign  armed  vessels  shall,  upon 
their  arrival,  present  their  letters  of  marque  or  commission ; 
and  authorise,  according  to  the  custom  of  admiralties,  to  treat 
all  those  as  pirates  whose  letters  are  found  to  be  illegal,  for 
icant  of  being  granted  by  a  sovereign  power. 

"  The  quality  of  Paul  Jones,  and  all  the  circumstances  of  the 
affair,  are  too  notorious  for  your  high  mightinesses  to  be  igno- 
rant of  them.  The  eyes  of  all  Europe  are  fixed  upon  your 
resolution  ;  your  high  mightinesses  know  too  well  the  value*  of 
good  faith  not  to  give  an  example  of  it  in  this  essential  ren- 
contre. The  smallest  deviation  from  so  sacred  a  rule,  by 
weakening  the  principle  of  neighbgurs,  may  produce  serious 
consequences." 

The  logic  of  Sir  Joseph  was  good.  Jones  had  no  other  com- 
mission than  that  of  America  to  produce.  The  States,  however, 
replied  as  before,  that  they  would  not  pass  judgment  on  the 
legality  of  the  captures,  and  would  act  under  the  terms  of  their 
placard.  In  pursuance  of  their  resolution,  and  of  an  order  from 
the  Prince  of  Orange,  Jones  prepared  to  remove  the  wounded 
to  the  fort  on  the  Texel ;  having  permission  to  place  sentinels  to 
guard  them,  to  raise  the  drawbridge  at  his  pleasure,  and  re- 
move his  prisoners  if  he  saw  fit.  On  the  31st,*  an  agreement 
was  entered  into  between  Jones  and  Pearson,  agreeably  to  these 
arrangements. 

On  behalf  of  his  government,  Captain  Pearson  agreed  that 
all  British  prisoners  so  landed  should  be  considered  prisoners 
of  war  until  exchanged ;  and  in  case  any  of  them  should 
desert,  he  engaged  that  an  equal  number  of  American  prisoners 
should  be  released  in  England,  and  sent  to  France  by  the  next 


*  There  is  a  mistake  in  the  date  of  this  agreement  in  the  copies  made  by  order  of 
Congress,  in  which  it  appears  as  executed  on  the  3d. 

27 


218  PAUL   JONES. 

cartel.     In  cases  of  death,  Jones  stipulated  not  to  claim  an  ex 
change. 

In  this  agreement  Jones  took  care  that  there  should  be  no  for- 
mal reservations.  It  is  expressed  to  be  between  himself, "  captain 
in  the  American  navy,  commander  of  the  continental  squadron 
now  in  the  road  of  the  Texel,  and  Richard  Pearson,  Esq.  captain 
in  the  British  navy,  late  commodore  of  the  British  Baltic  fleet, 
and  now  a  prisoner  of  war  to  the  United  States  of  North  Ame- 
rica." On  the  1st  November,  he  gave  his  formal  orders  to 
Lieutenant  Colonel  Weibert,  appointing  him  governor  general 
over  the  wounded,  and  the  soldiers  who  were  to  conduct  them 
on  shore,  and  directing  him  to  take  care  that  no  cause  of  com- 
plaint should  be  given  to  the  Dutch  government  or  its  subjects. 

The  matter  and  manner  of  Jones'  remarks  in  relation  to  M. 
de  Chaumont,  were  such,,  that  the  latter  could  neither  forget 
them  nor  treat  them  with  no  attention,  while  they  remained 
unretracted.  They  estranged  him  from  the  commodore, 
except  so  far  as  official  transactions  rendered  intercourse  neces- 
sary. In  writing,  however,  on  the  llth,  he  does  not  appear  to 
have  seen  a  copy  of  the  whole  communication  to  Franklin,  or 
to  have  been  aware  of  its  import ;  as  it  is  spoken  of  by  Jones  as 
a  "  very  affectionate  letter."  In  his  reply,  dated  on  the  24th, 
he  returned  his  thanks  for  the  "many  compliments  and  gene- 
rous praises  bestowed  on  his  past  conduct ;"  and  said  they  af 
forded  him  the  truest  pleasure,  as  a  proof  that  he  still  enjoyed  a 
share  of  M.  Chaumont's  affection.  There  is  no  other  allusion 
to  the  grounds  of  complaint  than  what  is  contained  in  the  con- 
clusion of  the  letter,  which  was  in  these  terms  : 

"  It  shall  be  my  pride  to  acknowledge  every  where  how  much 
I  owe  to  the  attentions  of  France,  and  to  the  personal  friendship 
of  M.  de  Chaumont,  for  furnishing  me  with  the  means  of  giving 
liberty  to  all  the  American  prisoners  now  in  Europe  :  for  that  is 
the  greatest  triumph  which  a  good  man  can  boast,  and  is  there- 
fore a  thousand  times  more  flattering  to  me  than  victory. 

"  I  ardently  wish  for  future  opportunities  to  render  real  services 
to  our  common  cause ;  which  is  the  only  way  I  can  hope  to 


PAUL   JONES.  219 

prove  my  gratitude  to  France,  to  America,  and  to  my  much 
loved  friend  M.  de  Chaumont,  and  his  amiable  family,  with 
whom  I  sincerely  desire  to  live  henceforth  in  the  fullest  confi- 
dence and  affection.  In  the  fullness  of  my  heart,  I  am  with 
the  highest  respect,  my  dear  Chaumont,  your  truly  obliged 
friend,  &c." 

This  letter,  it  is  to  be  presumed,  is  the  same  referred  to  in 
the  following  extract  from  one  to  Dr.  Bancroft,  dated  on  the 
26th,  in  which  discretion  was  given  to  him  as  to  its  delivery. 

"  M.  de  Chaumont  has  written  me  a  very  affectionate  letter ; 
but  then  he  had  written  me  many  equally  affectionate  letters 
even  from  the  first  of  our  acquaintance,  offering  me  always  the 
most  disinterested  services,  until  that  of  the  14th  of  June, 
whereof  I  enclose  a  copy.  He  has  not  yet  offered  me  an 
apology  respecting  the  dishonourable  '  concordat'  which  he  af- 
terward imposed  upon  me  at  Groix.  I  love  him,  however,  not- 
withstanding ;  and  as  his  excellency  tells  me  that  M.  de  Chau- 
mont has  still '  a  great  regard  for  me,'  that  assurance  revives 
all  my  former  friendship,  and  will  confirm  it,  if  you  think  the 
answer  which  I  have  here  enclosed  is  proper,  and  that  the 
delivery  of  it  will  put  a  final  end  on  his  part  to  our  misunder- 
standing. At  any  rate  I  pray  you  to  present  my  warmest 
respects  to  the  whole  family,  for  whom  I  shall  ever  retain  a 
grateful  affection. 

"  I  am  happy  my  dear  sir,  in  being  able  to  assure  you  that 
in  spite  of  Sir  Joseph,  the  flag  of  freedom  is  highly  respected 
indeed  at  the  Texel.  I  had  yesterday  the  honour  to  receive 
authority,  by  a  unanimous  resolution  of  the  States,  and  by  an 
order  of  the  Prince  of  Orange,  to  land  as  many  prisoners  as  I 
please,  to  place  sentinels  to  guard  them  in  the  fort  on  the  Texel, 
to  haul  up  the  drawbridge  of  that  fort,  and  to  take  them  away 
again  from  thence  whenever  I  think  proper,  and  dispose  of  them 
afterward  as  though  they  had  never  been  landed. — Huzza, 
America !" 

It  would  be  doing  injustice  to  the  subject,  to  omit  the  two 
following  letters  to  the  son  and  wife  of  M.  de  Chaumont, 


220  PAUL   JONES. 

written  at  the   same  time,   with   which   the   correspondence 
terminated. 

"  On  board  the  Serapis,  at  the  Texel,  Oct.  26, 1779. 

"  M.  LE  RAY  DE  CHAUMONT,  Jim. 

"  You  will  pardon,  my  dear  friend,  my  not  having  written  to 
you  earlier  since  my  arrival  here ;  my  silence  has  not,  I  assure 
you,  been  the  effect  of  the  little  misunderstanding  which  unhap- 
pily took  place  between  your  father  and  myself  when  he  imposed 
upon  me  a  '  concordat"1  at  Groix,  which  I  thought  and  think  still, 
T  dishonoured  my  hand  by  signing.  The  ticklish  and  uncertain 
situation  of  the  politics  of  this  country,  as  affecting  the  flag  of 
America,  has  hitherto  so  much  occupied  my  attention,  that  I 
have  found  little  leisure  to  write.  My  fears  in  that  respect  being 
now  entirely  removed  by  a  unanimous  resolution  of  the  States 
General  that  is  far  more  favourable  to  our  cause  than  I  had 
reason  to  expect,  I  employ  this  breathing  space  with  great 
pleasure  to  assure  you  that  my  regard  and  affection  for  all  the 
family  of  De  Chaumont  is  far  from  diminished  :  I  earnestly 
wish  your  father  to  give  to  oblivion  the  past  misintelligence.  I 
am  persuaded  that  he  will  now  see  the  impropriety  of  commu- 
nicating too  early  the  intended  enterprises  and  operations  of  a 
partisan,  and  no  longer  blame  me  for  avoiding  free  conversa- 
tions on  such  subjects.  It  is  not  indeed  my  characteristic  to  be 
free  of  words.  My  heart,  however,  is  no  stranger  to  the  senti- 
ments and  duties  of  friendship,  though  my  situation  as  a  servant 
of  the  public  leaves  me  without  the  power  of  obliging  my  private 
friends,  except  in  the  pleasure  which  I  am  persuaded  they  take 
in  hearing  of  my  success,  when  they  have  furnished  me  with 
the  means. 

"  It  affords  me  pleasure  to  assure  you,  that  I  cannot  too  much 
praise  the  gallant  behaviour  of  the  young  volunteer  Baptiste 
Travallier,  whom  you  sent  to  L'Orient ;  in  the  engagement  a 
sailor  called  for  a  wad  in  loading  one  of  the  great  guns  ;  he  fur- 
nished him  immediately  by  substituting  the  coat  which  he  then 
wore,  and  soon  afterward,  when  the  Bon  Homme  Richard  was 


PAUL  JONES. 

on  fire,  he  instantly  took  off  his  shirt,  and  dipped  it  in  water  anc 
applied  it  with  great  dexterity  to  smother  the  flames. 

"  Present  my  best  respects  to  Madame  de  Chaumont  and  to 
your  sisters.  I  beseech  them  and  you  to  love  me,  and  that 
your  father  will  forgive  my  past  fault,  which  was  the  effect 
only  of  my  believing  that  he  had  less  confidence  in  me  than  he 
had  taught  me  to  expect,  and  had  always  said  I  had  merited." 

"  October,  28,  1779. 
"  To  MADAM  LE  RAY  DE  CHAUMONT, 

"  I  can  no  longer,  my  dear  madam,  refrain  from  writing  to 
you,  although  I  have  not  been  honoured  with  a  line  from  you 
since  my  letter  from  L'Orient,  dated  13th  June. 

"  I  congratulate  you  on  my  late  success,  because  I  know  it 
affords  you  pleasure  ;  and  knowing  this,  is,  I  assure  you,  a 
very  singular  addition  to  my  satisfaction.  What  has  given 
me  more  pain,  however,  than  words  can  express,  has  been  a 
want  of  confidence  on  the  part  of  M.  de  Chaumont  after  he  had 
honoured  me  with  strong  proof  of  his  friendship  and  good 
opinion.  The  '  concordat,'  which  to  my  great  surprise,  he  im- 
posed upon  me  in  the  moment  of  my  departure  from  L'Orient, 
was  the  most  humiliating  paper  that  ever  a  friend  forced  upon 
the  commander  of  a  squadron ;  and  even  my  success  has  not 
wiped  off  the  dishonour  of  my  having  signed  it. 

"  I  am  willing  to  believe  that  my  friend  did  not  see  the  con- 
cordat in  the  same  light,  and  that  the  idea  was  not  originally 
his  own,  but  only  by  him  adopted  from  the  misrepresentations 
of  persons  who  were  constantly  buzzing  in  his  ear,  and  showing 
an  infinity  of  theory  which  they  have  not  since  been  quite  so 
happy  in  reducing  to  practice.  I  say,  as  I  verily  believe,  that 
the  idea  was  not  originally  his  own  ;  and  as  I  love  him  still  with 
undiminished  and  grateful  affection,  I  earnestly  wish  him  to 
forgive  the  complaints  which  I  have  made,  and  to  continue 
towards  me  his  first  warmth  of  friendship  and  confidence. 

"  My  departure  from  hence  is  extremely  uncertain,  my  des- 
tination, too,  is  better  known  to  Dr.  Franklin  than  myself  at 


222  PAUL   JONES. 

present.  Our  ships  are  now  in  a  severe  storm.  I  mention 
this  only  to  show  that  I  can,  in  no  situation,  forget  how  much  I 
owe  to  the  polite  attentions  and  friendship  of  the  amiable  family 
at  Passy,  which  I  beseech  you  to  believe  I  shall  ever  remember 
with  sentiments  of  the  most  lively  esteem  and  affection,  being 
very  truly,  your  obliged  friend,  &c." 

M.  Chaumont  was  not  conciliated  by  these  letters,  as  indeed, 
if  he  felt  himself  unjustly  charged  with  indiscreet  and  injurious 
revelation  of  state  secrets,  it  could  not  have  been  expected  he 
ever  would  be.  He  was,  moreover,  of  a  temperament  not  free 
from  irascibility ;  and  was  labouring  under  the  pressure  of  ad- 
vances made  by  him  to  support  the  armies  of  France  in  Ame- 
rica. The  difficulty  of  obtaining  reimbursements  for  these 
advances,  led  subsequently  to  a  widening  of  the  breach  between 
him  and  Jones,  by  occasioning  a  detention  of  prize  money.  They 
had  no  personal  interviews  of  a  friendly  character,  in  which 
mutual  explanations  might  have  been  made. 

On  the  28th  of  October,  Jones  wrote  to  La  Fayette,  appa- 
rently in  good  spirits.  The  following  is  an  extract : 

"  I  am  very  much  concerned  and  ashamed  to  understand  that 
my  '  numbers'  that  you  received  from  L' Orient,  were  so  ill 
composed.  It  is  a  proof  that  their  ladyships,  the  Muses,  however 
condescending  they  may  be  on  the  banks  of  the  Helicon,  will 
not  despense  their  favours  to  the  sons  of  Neptune,  especially 
while  they  are 

By  bounding  billows  and  rude  winds  that  blow, 
Alternate  toss'd  in  air,  or  sunk  to  sands  below. 

"  In  truth,  my  dear  General,  I  am  almost  as  sorry  that  you 
have  not  been  able  to  understand  my  meaning  as  if  I  had  been 
addressing  myself  to — a  fair  lady!  The  enclosed  key  will,  how- 
ever, I  hope  unlock  the  past  difficulty,  and  enable  you  fully  to 
see  what  I  so  much  wish  you  to  understand. 

"  I  will  send  you  very  soon,  a  little  work  that  shall  be  better 
finished  than  that  from  L'Orient ;  and  in  the  mean  time  a 
machine,  to  which  the  present  key  is  adapted,  is  forwarded 


PAUL   JONES.  223 

through  the  hands  of  Dr.  Bancroft,  in  case  you  should  have 
spoiled  or  thrown  away  the  one  formerly  sent. 

"  The  late  brutalities  of  the  Britons  in  America,  fill  me  with 
horror  and  indignation.  They  forget  that  they  are  men;  and 
I  believe  that  nothing  will  bring  them  to  their  senses  but  the 
most  exemplary  retaliation.  Landais  is  ordered  to  Paris  to 
answer  for  his  past  conduct. 

"  I  wish  to  answer  very  particularly  the  three  points  which 
you  have  propounded.  1st,  I  never  meant  to  ask  a  reward  for 
my  services,  either  from  France  or  America  ;  consequently  the 
approbation  of  the  court  and  of  Congress  is  all  the  gratifica- 
tion I  can  wish  for.  2dly,  I  yet  intend  to  undertake  whatever 
the  utmost  exertion  of  my  abilities  will  reach  in  support  of  the 
common  cause,  as  far  as  any  force  that  may  in  future  be  in- 
trusted to  my  direction  may  enable  me  to  succeed ;  I  hope, 
however,  my  future  force  will  be  better  composed  than  when  I 
sailed  from  L'Orient.  I  must  sail  from  the  Texel  in  course  of 
next  month,  because  ships  cannot  afterward  remain  here  in  this 
road.  My  destination  or  route  from  hence  I  yet  know  not ;  but 
I  need  not  tell  you  that  I  wish  to  see  your  face  !  3dly,  It  is  now 
in  vain  to  say  what  might  have  been  done  two  years  ago  with 
the  force  you  mention  ;  but  I  believe,  if  properly  supported  by 
sea,  such  a  force  might  yet  perform  very  essential  service. 
There  is  no  guarding,  you  know,  against  storms ;  and  one  would 
wish  either  to  avoid  or  to  outsail  a  superior  sea  force.  As  I  be- 
lieve you  know  my  way  of  thinking  on  such  subjects,  I  shall  offer 
you  no  argument.  I  knowyou  want  no  prompter." 

Baron  Vander  Capellen  had  addressed  Jones  a  second  time, 
asking  permission  to  publish  his  letter  to  the  Countess  of  Sel- 
kirk, and  inquiring  whether  he  had  ever  been  under  any  obli- 
gation to  the  husband  of  that  lady.  He  also  asked  him  whether 
he  had  a  French  commission.  The  first  request  Jones  declined 
granting.  "  I  am  much  obliged  to  you,  my  lord,  (he  said,)  for  the 
honour  you  do  me,  by  proposing  to  publish  the  papers  I  sent 
you ;  but  it  is  an  honour  which  I  must  decline,  because  I  can- 


224  PAUL   JONES. 

not  publish  my  letter  to  the  lady,  without  asking  and  obtaining 
her  consent ;  and  because  I  have  a  very  modest  opinion  of  my 
own  writings ;  being  conscious  that  they  are  not  of  sufficient 
value  to  claim  the  attention  of  the  public.  I  assure  you,  my 
lord,  it  has  given  me  much  concern  to  see  an  extract  of  my 
rough  journal  in  print ;  and  that,  too,  under  the  disadvantage 
of  a  translation.  That  mistaken  kindness  of  a  friend,  will  make 
me  cautious  how  I  communicate  my  papers."  He  also  informed 
the  baron,  that  Lord  Selkirk  knew  him  only  by  reputation. 
In  reply  to  the  question  of  the  worthy  nobleman,  whether  he 
had  a  French  commission,  he  briefly  said,  "  I  never  bore  or 
acted  under  any  other  commission,  than  what  I  have  received 
from  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  of  America." 

And  none  other  would  he  accept,  while  his  so  doing  would 
be  an  implied  admission,  that  the  flag  of  the  new  republic 
was  not  an  all  sufficient  protection  for  its  vessels  and  citizens. 
His  zeal  for  its  honour  is  not  more  commendable,  than  the  pru- 
dence he  exhibited  in  his  then  very  equivocal  situation ;  block- 
aded as  he  was  from  without,  (for  the  combined  fleet  of  France 
and  Spain  had  returned  to  Brest,  and  the  enemy's  light  cruisers 
were  actively  on  the  look  out  for  him,)  and  menaced  within  the 
harbour,  by  the  persevering  demands  and  powerful  interest  of 
the  English  ambassador.  So  that  though  the  stars  and  stripes 
were  flying,  and  his  own  sentinels  guarding  a  fortress  intrusted 
to  his  command,  he  was  aware  to  the  fullest  extent,  of  the  pre- 
carious nature  of  the  security  he  had  for  the  tenure  of  his  ship 
and  prisoners,  and  indeed  for  his  personal  safety.  If  his  sense 
of  this  had  been  obtuse,  it  was  about  to  be  quickened,  in  a  man- 
ner which  admitted  of  no  misconception. 

The  charges  against  Landais  were  drawn  up  by  the  officers 
of  the  squadron,  on  the  30th  October,  and  attested  by  them. 
They  were  twenty-five  in  number,  and  have  already  been  suf- 
ficiently adverted  to.  The  last  was,  that  in  coming  into  the 
Texel,  Landais  declared,  that  if  Captain  Jones  should  hoist  a 
broad  pendant,  he  would,  to  vex  him,  hoist  another. 

The  nature  of  the  embarassments  with  which  Jones  was 


PAUL   JOMKS.  225 

beset  at  this  time,  will  best  appear  from  his  own  accounts.  He 
says  briefly,  in  his  journal,  that  "  with  the  most  indefatigable 
attention  and  industry,  gales  of  wind,  and  other  circumstances 
prevented  him  from  having  the  Serapis  remasted,  and  the 
squadron  ready  to  sail,  before  the  middle  of  November."  On 
the  4th  of  that  month,  he  thus  wrote  to  the  French  ambassador. 

"  MY  LORD, 

"  This  morning,  the  commandant  of  the  road  sent  me  word 
to  come  and  speak  to  him  on  board  his  ship.  He  had  before 
him  on  the  table  a  letter,  which,  he  said,  was  from  the  Prince 
of  Orange.  He  questioned  me  very  closely  whether  I  had  a 
French  commission,  and,  if  I  had,  he  almost  insisted  upon  see- 
ing it.  In  conformity  to  your  advice  '  Get  avis  donne  au  com- 
mencement n'etoit  plus  de  saison  depuis  1'admission  de  Pescadre 
sous  Pavilion  Americain,'  I  told  him  that  my  French  commis- 
sion not  having  been  found  among  my  papers  since  the  loss 
of  the  Bon  Homme  Richard,  I  feared  it  had  gone  to  the  bottom 
in  that  ship ;  but  that,  if  it  was  really  lost,  it  would  be  an  easy 
matter  to  procure  a  duplicate  of  it  from  France.  The  com- 
mandant appeared  to  be  very  uneasy  and  anxious  for  my  de- 
parture. I  have  told  him,  that  as  there  are  eight  of  the  enemy's 
ships  laying  wait  for  me  at  the  south  entrance,  and  four  more 
at  the  north  entrance  of  the  port,  I  was  unable  to  fight  more 
than  three  times  my  force ;  but  that  he  might  rest  assured  of 
my  intention  to  depart  with  the  utmost  expedition,  whenever  I 
found  a  possibility  to  go  clear. 

"  I  should  be  very  happy,  my  lord,  if  I  could  tell  you  of  my 
being  ready.  I  should  have  departed  long  ago,  if  I  had  met 
with  common  assistance  ;  but  for  a  fortnight  past  I  have  every 
day  expected  the  necessary  supply  of  water  from  Amsterdam 
in  cisterns,  and  I  am  last  night  informed  that  it  cannot  be  had 
without  I  send  up  water  casks.  The  provision,  too,  that  was 
ordered  the  day  I  returned  to  Amsterdam  from  the  Hague,  is 
not  yet  sent  down  ;  and  the  spars  that  have  been  sent  from 
Amsterdam  are  spoiled  in  the  making.  None  of  the  iron-work 

28 


226  PAUL  JONES. 

that  was  ordered  for  the  Serapis  is  yet  completed,  so  that  I  am, 
even  to  this  hour,  in  want  of  hinges  to  hang  the  lower  gun 
ports.  My  officers  and  men  lost  their  clothes  and  beds  in  the 
Bon  Homme  Richard,  and  they  have  yet  got  no  supply.  The 
bread  that  has  been  twice  a  week  sent  down  from  Amsterdam 
to  feed  my  people,  has  been,  literally  speaking,  rotten,  and  the 
consequence  is,  that  they  are  falling  sick. 

"  It  is  natural  also  that  they  should  be  discontented,  while  I 
am  not  able  to  tell  them,  that  they  will  be  paid  the  value  of  their 
property  in  the  Serapis  and  the  Countess  of  Scarborough,  if  either 
or  both  of  them  should  be  lost  or  taken  after  sailing  from  hence. 

"  Thus  you  see,  my  lord,  that  my  prospects  are  far  from 
pleasing.  I  have  but  few  men,  and  they  are  discontented.  If 
you  can  authorise  me  to  promise  them,  at  all  hazards,  that  their 
property  in  the  prizes  shall  be  made  good,  and  that  they  shall 
receive  the  necessary  clothing  and  bedding,  &c.  or  money  to 
buy  them,  I  believe  I  shall  soon  be  able  to  bring  them  again 
into  a  good  humour.  In  the  mean  time,  I  will  send  a  vessel  or 
two  out  to  reconnoitre  the  offing,  and  to  bring  me  word.  What- 
ever may  be  the  consequence  of  my  having  put  into  this  har- 
bour, I  must  observe,  that  it  was  done  contrary  to  my  opinion  ; 
and  I  consented  to  it  only,  because  the  majority  of  my  colleagues 
were  earnest  for  it."  Contemplating  a  speedy  departure  at 
all  hazards,  he  wrote  to  M.  Dumas  on  the  same  day,  that  if  the 
weather  permitted,  what  was  necessary  yet  to  be  done,  might 
be  effected  in  four  or  five  days.  He  added  : 

"  With  respect  to  the  powers  of  Captain  Pearson,  I  am  con- 
vinced that  he  has  received  no  authority  from  Sir  Joseph  Yorke. 
His  powers,  however,  must  be  as  ample  as  mine  ;  and  I  should 
not,  I  assure  you,  have  made  such  a  convention  with  him,  if 
Captain  Rimersina,  on  the  part  of  the  States  General,  had  not 
given  me,  verbally,  free  liberty  to  land  the  wounded  prisoners, 
and  to  guard  them  in  the  fort  on  the  Texel,  by  my  soldiers  with 
drawn  swords,  and  with  the  bridges  hauled  up  at  our  plea- 
sure ;  and  with  free  liberty  to  embark  them  again,  and  dispose 
of  them  as  though  they  had  not  been  landed  in  Holland.  You 


PAUL   JONES. 

see,  therefore,  that  my  convention  witli  Captain  Pearson  does 
not  bind  me  to  continue  the  prisoners  ashore ;  I  can  embark 
them  again  whenever  I  please,  and  it  was  only  intended  on  my 
part  as  a  security  against  elopement.  They  have  hitherto  been 
guarded  with  the  drawbridges  hauled  up  or  let  down  at  the 
sovereign  will  and  pleasure  of  the  *  Governor  General.'  If  my 
wishes  succeed,  it  will  afford  America  matter  of  exultation ;  and 
at  the  worst  we  can  only  lose  eighteen  or  nineteen  dangerously 
wounded  prisoners,  which  I  think  will  be  made  up  by  our  having 
had  possession  of  a  fort  on  the  Texel.  I  shall  only  add,  that 
my  meaning  has  been  good ;  and  that  I  thought  I  might  rely 
on  the  guarantee,  that  I  had  on  the  part  of  the  States  General, 
while  we  could  keep  the  prisoners  from  making  their  escape 
from  the  fort." 

But  M.  de  Sartine  had  determined  upon  a  measure  which 
prevented  Jones  from  immediately  attempting  an  escape,  and 
from  carrying  out,  under  the  flag  to  which  she  had  stuck,  the 
dearly  bought  Serapis.  On  the  6th  of  November,  that  minis- 
ter thus  briefly  wrote  to  Dr.  Franklin  :  "  Circumstances  require 
that  the  expedition  of  the  squadron,  under  the  orders  of  Mr.  Jones 
should  terminate  at  the  Texel.  It  seems  indispensable  to  give 
a  new  destination  to  the  different  ships  which  compose  it.  You 
are  at  liberty,  sir,  to  dispose  of  the  American  frigate,  the  Al- 
liance, according  to  the  views  you  may  entertain  in  relation  to 
the  service  of  the  United  States.  1  pray  you  only,  to  observe 
to  Mr.  Jones,  or  any  other  officer  to  whom  you  may  intrust  the 
command,  that  he  must  not  have  any  subject  of  the  king  on 
board  of  that  frigate."  The  minister  had  resolved  to  adopt  the 
shortest  course,  in  relation  to  the  vessels  which  were  the  pro- 
perty of  France,  and  probably  had  no  doubt  that  Jones  would 
be  willing  to  accept  a  commission  from  that  government,  to 
extricate  himself  from  his  now  solitary  and  dangerous  position. 
He  was  mistaken. 

In  communicating  a  copy  of  this  note  to  Jones,  Franklin 
observed,  that  the  injunction  as  to  the  king's  subjects  might  ex- 
tend to  Landais,  who  had  not  yet  arrived.  He  remarked  :  "  I 


228  PAUL  JONES. 

suppose  you  will  learn  the  intentions  of  the  minister,  relatn  a 
to  the  disposition  of  the  prizes,  from  the  ambassador ;  and  that 
you  will  go  on  board  the  Alliance  yourself.  I  am  anxious  that 
the  prisoners  should  be  safely  lodged  in  France,  and  should 
earnestly  recommend  that  matter  to  your  attention  if  I  did  not 
know  that  you  desire,  as  much  as  I  do,  the  exchange  of  our 
poor  countrymen." 

While  these  unpleasant  documents  were  on  their  way,  M.  Du- 
mas had  repaired  to  the  Helder,  where  he  was  busily  engaged  in 
endeavouring  to  expedite  the  departure  of  the  squadron.  On 
the  12th,  the  ambassador  having  received  the  instructions  of 
M.  de  Sartine,  recalled  Dumas  to  the  Hague,  and  directed  him 
to  inform  Jones  that  he  must  suspend  his  sailing  until  he  re- 
ceived new  orders  ;  but  lose  no  time  in  the  business  of  repairs. 
The  Dutch  vice  admiral  had  on  the  same  day  given  him  notice, 
that  he  was  expected  to  sail  with  the  first  fair  wind.  This  offi- 
cer, named  Reynst,  had  been  appointed  to  the  command  of  the 
Dutch  fleet,  consisting  of  thirteen  men  of  war,  by  the  Prince 
of  Orange.  Mr.  Rimersina,  a  friend  of  America,  and  who  had 
treated  the  squadron  with  every  civility,  was  removed  from  that 
command. 

If  Sir  Joseph  had  not  effected  all  his  object,  he  had  suc- 
ceeded in  placing  Jones  in  such  jeopardy  that  his  escape  with 
safety  and  honour  seemed  hopeless.*  Their  high  mightinesses 


*  In  the  Life  of  Jones,  published  in  Edinburgh,  the  following  note  is  inserted : 

"About this  time,  a  seaman's  wife  of  Burlington  addressed  a  letter  to  Sir  Joseph 
Yorke  at  the  Hague,  imploring  tidings  of  her  husband,  of  whom,  since  the  engage- 
ment of  Jones  with  the  Serapis,  she  had  never  heard,  and  who,  she  feared,  had  fallen 
in  that  fight.  Sir  Joseph  gallantly  and  humanely  complied  with  the  poor  Englishwo- 
man's request,  and  as  he  was  aware  that  his  epistle  to  Mrs.  Burnot  would  appear  in  all 
the  English  and  French  newspapers,  he,  with  considerable  covert  humour,  contrived 
to  have  a  hit  at  the  shuffling  policy  of  the  Dutch,  and  the  chameleon  character  of 
the  squadron  they  sheltered,  while  he  replied  to  the  seaman's  wife — 

'  '  MRS.  BURNOT — As  soon  as  I  received  your  letter  of  the  7th  instant,  I  lost  no 
time  in  making  inquiries  after  your  gallant  husband,  Mr.  Richard  Burnot;  and  have 
now  great  pleasure  in  congratulating  you  upon  his  being  alive  and  well,  on  board  the 


PAUL   JONES. 

had  continued  their  deliberations  on  the  points  reserved,  which 
had  been  pressed  upon  them  in  the  English  ambassador's  re- 
monstrance of  October  29th.  On  the  17th  November,  the 
Duke  De  Vauguyon  informed  M.  Dumas,  that  the  States  of  Hol- 
land had  come  to  the  conclusion,  by  a  plurality  of  votes,  to 
constrain  Jones  to  depart,  and  directed  him  to  repair  forthwith 
to  the  Texel,  and  make  the  necessary  arrangements.  On  the 
19th,  the  States  General  resolved  that  they  would  persist  in 
maintaining  their  ancient  maxim,  not  to  decide  upon  the  legal- 
ity of  captures  under  foreign  flags,  which  maxim,  they  added, 
was  even  founded  upon  treaties ;  but  that  they  had  already 
given  evident  proof  of  their  not  wishing  to  render  any  aid  to 
the  inhabitants  of  the  British  colonies  in  America,  by  giving 
orders  that  Jones  should  be  furnished  with  no  munitions  of  war 
or  other  articles,  other  than  were  necessary  to  enable  him  to 
make  the  nearest  port ;  and  that,  in  case  of  necessity,  they 
would  even  constrain  him  to  sail,  as  soon  as  his  vessels  could 
keep  the  sea,  and  the  wind  permitted.  They  repeated  an  ex- 
press disavowal  of  their  intending,  by  any  implication,  to  recog- 
nise the  independence  of  the  Colonies.  And  they  directed  the 
Admiralty  college  at  Amsterdam  to  advise  Jones,  that  the  ap- 
proaching season  of  winter  would  make  his  departure  inconve- 
nient ;  to  avoid  which,  it  was  necessary  that  he  should  let  no 
opportunity  escape  of  putting  to  sea ;  "  that  such  was  the  serious 


Countess  of  Scarborough,  at  the  Texel.  I  find  he  had  been  burnt  with  an  explosion 
of  gunpowder,  but  is  now  quite  recovered.  He  sends  me  word,  that  he,  aayou  know, 
could  not  write,  and  therefore  hoped  I  would  let  you  know  he  was  well,  which  I  do 
with  infinite  satisfaction.  It  will  still  be  greater,  if  I  can  get  him  exchanged,  which  I 
am  doing  my  best  endeavours  for ;  but,  as  the  people  who  took  him  are  sometimes 
French  and  sometimes  rebels,  as  it  suits  their  convenience,  that  tenders  this  affair  more 
difficult  than  it  would  be  if  they  allowed  themselves  to  be  French  ;  because  I  could 
then  settle  the  exchange  at  once.  I  am  happy  to  be  able  to  give  such  agreeable  news 
to  the  wife  of  my  brave  countryman,  and  I  am  very  sincerely  your  most  faithful 
humble  servant, 

"  '  JOSEPH  YORKE. 
'  '  Hague,  Nov.  26, 1779.'  " 


230  PAUL   JONES. 

intention  of  their  high  mightinesses,  and  they  could  not  exptcl 
that  by  opposing  it,  he  would  oblige  them  to  take  measures  which 
would  be  disagreeable  to  him."  And  they  required  his  serene 
highness  (the  Prince  of  Orange)  to  order  the  officer  command- 
ing in  the  Texel  road  to  see  to  it  (tenir  la  main)  with  all  dis- 
cretion, and  permit  no  delay  which  the  nature  of  the  case  did 
not  render  unavoidable,  not  excepting  the  use  of  forcible  means, 
if  they  were  found  necessary. 

It  is  proper  to  record,  that  the  previous  resolutions,  passed  on 
the  17th,  by  the  States  of  the  province  of  Holland,  composed  of 
eighteen  towns  and  the  body  of  nobles,  (the  latter  having  one 
voice,)  were  protested  against  by  six  of  the  principal  towns. 
The  deputies  of  Dordrecht,  Rotterdam,  and  Schiedam,  assented 
to  the  resolution  only  so  far  as  it  conformed  to  that  adopted  on 
the  21st  October,  and  dissented  from  that  part  authorising 
force  to  be  employed,  as  being  premature,  and  contrary  to  the 
ancient  maxims  and  customs  of  the  republic.  They  protested 
that  they  would  not  be  responsible  for  the  consequences  ;  and 
reserved  the  right  to  such  ulterior  comments  and  measures  of 
opposition,  as  might  be  deemed  proper  by  their  constituents. 
The  deputies  of  Haerlem  in  very  strong  language,  and,  as  they 
said,  by  the  express  orders  of  their  constituents,  declared  their 
dissent.  The  deputies  of  Amsterdam  declared  that  they  op- 
posed and  "  held  for  null,  the  conclusion  of  a  report  of  the  13th, 
on  the  last  memorial  of  M.  the  ambassador  Yorke,  concerning 
the  reclamaticn  of  the  vessels,  &c.  inasmuch,  as  the  said  re- 
port tends  to  the  employment  of  means  of  constraint  and  even 
violence,  to  compel  the  commander  Paul  Jones  to  depart  casu 
qua  from  the  Texel  road."  And,  together  with  the  before  men- 
toned  protesting  towns,  they  considered  a  meagre  plurality  of 
voices  insufficient  to  sanction  a  measure  which  they  deemed  un- 
constitutional, as  being  inconsistent  with  the  ordinance  and 
placard  of  1756.  The  deputies  of  the  town  of  Brille  refused 
to  assent  to  the  report,  and  reserved  all  rights  till  further 
instructed  by  their  principals.  The  towns  of  Horn  and  Erek- 


PAUL  JONES.  231 

huvsen  were  not  represented  by  their  deputies,  when  these  re- 
solutions passed. 

M.  Dumas  relates,  that  he  repaired  to  the  Texel  on  the  18th, 
and  that  the  arrangements  made  necessary  by  the  orders  of 
Sartine  and  Franklin,  were  prosecuted  during  the  ten  following 
days  ;  the  vice  admiral  giving  a  great  deal  of  trouble,  particu- 
larly after  receiving  his  instructions  founded  on  the  resolutions  of 
the  States  General.  Though  the  wind  was  contrary,  he  was 
unremitting  in  his  urgency,  and  even  threats  of  violence.  On 
the  24th,  his  captain  en  second  visited  the  squadron  and  read 
aloud  a  paper,  which  he  then  returned  to  his  pocket.  M.  Du- 
mas, foreseeing,  as  he  says,  the  contents,  had  prepared  a  reply ; 
demanding,  in  future,  copies  of  all  orders  and  menpces,  in  order 
that  they  might  be  transmitted  to  Congress  and  to  Dr.  Frank- 
lin. To  another  pressing  message  on  the  28th,  M.  Dumas 
caused  an  answer  to  be  given,  "  in  a  high  voice,  before  all  the 
crews  and  the  rowers  of  the  boat  which  brought  the  messenger, 
that  the  vice  admiral  exacted  impossibilities."  This  declaration 
he  made  the  pilot  sign,  and  they  were  then  left  undisturbed  for 
ten  days.  In  an  extract  from  a  letter,  from  the  Hague,  which 
was  forwarded  among  the  papers  sent  by  M.  Dumas  to  the  com- 
mittee of  foreign  affairs,  it  is  stated,  that  "  after  Paul  Jones 
had  declared  himself  ready  to  comply  with  the  orders  of  their 
high  mightinesses,  whenever  he  was  able  to  sail  at  large,  Vice 
Admiral  Reynst,  having  sent  Captain  Van  Overmeer  on  board 
the  Serapis,  to  give  new  notice  in  the  most  serious  manner  to 
the  commanding  officer,  that  he  must  get  a  coast  pilot,  and  sail 
with  the  first  favourable  wind,  the  captain  was  informed  that 
this  vessel  was  no  longer  commanded  by  Paul  Jones,  but  by 
Captain  Cottineau  de  Cosgelin,  who  had  taken  possession  of  her, 
in  the  name  of  the  king  of  France."  The  Stadtholder,  it  is 
added,  thereupon  wrote  to  the  vice  admiral  to  use  no  forcible 
measures,  until  further  orders,  against  vessels  whose  com- 
manders held  French  commissions ;  but  advised  him  that  pre- 
vious orders  remained  in  force,  as  regarded  the  Alliance,  actually 
commanded  by  Jones  ;  and  at  the  same  time  charged  him  "  to 


232  PAUL    JONES. 

take  care  that  none  of  the  prisoners  who  had  not  been  con- 
ducted into  the  road,  and  put  on  board  said  vessel,  should 
be  carried  there."  These  directions,  the  letter  adds,  were  com- 
municated to  their  high  mightinesses,  who  approved  of  them, 
reserving  the  right  of  ulterior  deliberation  on  subsequent  mea- 
sures ;  and  in  the  mean  time  copies  of  the  agreement  between 
Jones  and  Pearson  were  put  into  circulation. 

Jones  had  indeed  made  up  his  mind  to  comply  with  the  triple 
requisitions  of  France,  Dr.  Franklin,  and  the  States  General ; 
but  he  was  determined  to  fulfil  the  expectations  of  the  Ameri- 
can ambassador  as  to  the  exchange  of  prisoners,  while  there 
was  the  least  hope  of  his  doing  so.  On  the  27th,  he  wrote  to  the 
Duke  de  la  Vauguyon,  expressing  his  admiration  of  "  the  warm 
and  persuasive  zeal  which  he  had  so  nobly  displayed  at  Amster- 
dam, for  the  service  of  the  best  of  kings."  He  expressed  his  regret 
that,  in  endeavouring  to  comply  with  his  promise  to  his  crew,  he 
had  been  compelled  to  ask  for  them  conditions,  which  the  duke 
did  not  feel  at  liberty  to  grant.  To  comply  with  those  promises 
and  effect  the  exchange  of  American  prisoners  in  England, 
were,  he  said,  the  two  interesting  objects,  which,  "  and  not  any 
natural  obstinacy  of  temper,  produced  that  inflexibility  which 
gave  your  excellency  so  much  trouble  to  overcome.  But,  the 
conflict  being  now  past,  I  am,  (in  full  confidence,)  made  happy 
by  having  yielded  to  the  Duke  de  la  Vauguyon."  "  I  consider 
myself  as  being  entirely  dismissed  from  any  connexion  with  the 
court.  I  complain  not  of  the  measure  ;  but  as  I  am  unconscious 
of  having  in  any  instance  lost  sight  of  the  points  of  duty  that 
were  given  me  in  charge,  I  confess  I  have  been  and  am  hurt, 
at  the  manner  in  which  I  have  been  dismissed.  The  more  so, 
as  the  connexion  was  not  at  the  beginning  of  my  seeking  ;  and 
as  I  never  asked,  nor  meant  to  ask  a  favour  for  myself  from 
the  minister." 

The  order  Franklin  had  found  it  necessary  to  grant,  involved 
the  delivery  of  the  prisoners  to  the  French  ambassador.  The 
Serapis  and  Countess  of  Scarborough  were  also  taken  from 
under  his  orders.  It  was  not  without  a  pang  that  he  resigned 


PAUL   JONES.  233 

the  command  of  the  former  vessel ;  which  had  recently  cost  the 
British  government  a  large  sum  of  money,  was  a  new  ship,  and 
sufficiently  refitted  for  sea.  He  found  it  imperatively  necessary 
to  remove  to  the  Alliance,  on  board  of  which  alone  the  Ameri- 
can flag  was  now  flying,  and  from  which  the  preceding  letter 
was  dated.  When,  and  in  what  terms  the  offer  to  accept  a 
French  commission  was  first  made  to  him,  does  not  very  dis- 
tinctly appear.  He  states  generally  in  his  Journal,  that  Holland 
agreed  to  give  convoy  to  the  fleet  bound  for  Brest,  and  that  the 
French  court  wished  him  either  to  accept  a  commission  and 
hoist  the  flag  of  France  on  board  all  the  ships  of  the  squadron 
and  the  prizes,  or  go  on  board  the  frigate  Alliance.  He  chose 
the  latter  he  says,  for  many  reasons ;  but  "  his  superior  motive 
was  to  preserve  the  honour  of  the  American  flag,  in  the  worst  of 
times.  In  any  other  light  it  was  a  most  disagreeable  and  mor- 
tifying change."  The  Alliance  had  not  a  good  cable  or  sail ; 
the  officers  and  men  were  intemperate  and  idle  ;  filth,  insubor- 
dination, and  epi  lemical  diseases,  prevailed  among  the  crew ; 
she  was  badly  supplied  with  small  arms,  and  her  powder  was  of 
bad  quality.  The  latter  wants  Jones  was,  however,  enabled  to 
supply,  from  the  superfluous  number  of  small  arms  found  on 
board  the  Serapis,  and  the  powder  which  had  been  transferred 
to  the  Pallas  from  the  Bon'Homme  Richard,  when  the  latter 
ship  was  on  fire,  the  morning  after  the  action.  He  also  had 
two  cables,  procured  for  the  Serapis  at  Amsterdam ;  without 
which  the  Alliance  would  have  been  lost  in  the  gales  that  pre- 
vailed at  the  Texel,  before  she  sailed  from  thence,  when  all  her 
other  cables  broke. 

The  letters  from  the  French  ambassador  to  Sartine  and 
Franklin,  show  that  the  gratitude  expressed  to  the  ambassa- 
dor by  Jones,  was  not  unmerited;  and  that  the  former  had 
pressed  upon  his  government  the  claims  urged  by  the  latter, 
on  behalf  of  the  rights  of  his  crew,  under  the  laws  and  usages  of 
the  United  States  of  America. 

On  the  29th,  Jones  wrote  to  Dr.  Franklin,  expressing  a  hope 
that  his  conduct  on  the  second  interview  with  the  French  am- 

29 


234  PAUL   JONES. 

bassador,  (referred  to  by  M.  Dumas,)  would  meet  with  hid 
approbation.  "  I  do  not,"  he  said,  "  well  understand  the  rea 
sons  of  this  alteration ;  but  M.  Dumas,  who  was  present,  can 
inform  you,  that  I  have  done  every  thing  in  my  power,  to  secure 
the  prisoners,  without  a  quarrel  with  the  ambassador.  I  have 
a  hundred  prisoners  on  board  here,  among  whom  are  all  that 
were  landed  and  guarded  for  three  weeks  by  our  people,  in  the 
fort  on  the  Texel.  I  shall,  with  this  ship,  embrace  the  first  fair 
wind  for  L'Orient.  I  hope  to  take  some  good  prizes  by  the 
way,  and  on  my  arrival  there  to  meet  with  your  further  orders. 
I  should  have  come  on  board  here,  on  the  departure  of  Captain 
Landais,  agreeable  to  your  letter  of  the  15th  ult.  had  it  not 
been  from  delicacy ;  as  that  mistaken  man  had  said  I  had 
made  interest  with  you  to  supersede  him  in  the  command  of 
this  frigate !  If  he  has  any  sensibility,  it  will  be  a  sufficient 
punishment  for  him  to  know  that,  till  the  engagement  with  the 
Serapis,  I  was  his  friend,  and  had  never  written  his  name  to 
you,  without  saying  something  in  his  favour.  *  *  *  *  It  is  natu- 
ral for  me  to  wish,  that  the  Serapis  should  become  the  property 
of  America.  It  is  the  best  ship  that  I  ever  saw  of  the  kind; 
and  would  cost  the  continent  less  than  any  frigate  that  has  yet 
been  under  our  flag.  I  wish  to  embrace  you  once  more,  before 
I  leave  Europe;  but  my  private  feelings,  I  hope,  shall  never 
divert  my  attention  from  my  duty." 

In  a  postscript,  he  added,  "  I  have  the  pleasure  to  inform 
you  that  Captain  Cunningham  is  now  here  with  me."  There 
was  at  any  rate  one  consolatory  circumstance,  in  which  he  had 
reason  to  congratulate  himself  on  the  consequence  of  his  own 
firm  conduct  towards  the  English  captain  and  the  haughty 
ambassador. 

Not  confining  himself  to  remonstrances  with  the  magistrates 
and  legislatures,  and  to  intrigues  with  public  characters,  who 
could  aid  him  in  thwarting  the  escape  of  Jones,  there  is  no 
reason  to  doubt,  that  Sir  Joseph  Yorke  offered  rewards  for  the 
private  apprehension  of  the  American  commodore.  Jones  does 
not  scruple  to  charge  him,  in  his  subsequent  references  to  this 


PAUL   JONES.  $35 

period,  with  practising  clandestinely  to  get  possession  of  his 
person.  In  a  statement  drawn  up  by  Mr.  Van  Berckel,  grand 
pensionary  of  Amsterdam,  attested  in  every  particular  by  M. 
Dumas,  it  is  said,  "  the  ambassador  did  all  in  his  power  with  the 
magistrates  and  private  citizens  of  Amsterdam,  to  cause  them 
to  lay  hands  upon  the  person  of  the  commodore,  and  to  deliver 
him  up  to  him ;  but  in  vain.  No  person  had  the  baseness  or 
the  courage  to  undertake  his  desire  in  this  respect." 

On  the  1st  December,  meditating  his  departure  at  all  hazards, 
whenever  the  wind  should  serve,  (which,  however,  it  did  not 
until  the  27th,)  we  find  Jones  returning  his  thanks  to  Captain 
Rimersina  for  his  personal  civilities,  and  the  attention  shown  to 
the  American  flag,  while  he  had  commanded  in  the  road.  On  the 
5th,  while  forwarding  despatches  for  Congress,  enclosed  to  the 
Hon.  Robert  Morris,  he  thus  wrote  to  that  gentleman:  "  I  am 
persuaded  you  will  observe  with  pleasure,  that  my  connexion 
with  a  court  is  at  end,  and  that  my  prospect  of  returning  to 
America  approaches.  The  great  seem  to  wish  only  to  be  con- 
cerned with  tools,  who  dare  not  speak  or  write  truth.  I  am  not 
sorry  that  my  connexion  with  them  is  at  an  end.  In  the  course 
of  that  connexion,  I  ran  ten  chances  of  ruin  and  dishonour  for 
one  of  reputation;  and  all  the  honours  or  profit  that  France 
could  bestow,  should  not  tempt  me  again  to  undertake  the  same 
service  with  an  armament  equally  ill  composed,  and  with  pow- 
ers equally  limited.  It  affords  me  the  most  exalted  pleasure  to 
reflect,  that,  when  I  return  to  America,  I  can  say,  that  I  have 
served  in  Europe  at  my  own  expense,  and  without  the  fee  or 
reward  of  a  court.  When  the  prisoners  we  have  taken  are 
safely  lodged  in  France,  I  shall  have  no  farther  business  in 
Europe,  as  the  liberty  of  all  our  fellow  citizens,  who  now  suffer 
in  English  prisons  will  then  be  secured  ;  and  I  shall  hope  here- 
after to  be  usefully  employed  under  the  immediate  direction  of 
the  Congress." 

At  the  same  time  that  these  despatches  were  transmitted,  he 
drew  up  his  memorial  from  the  Texel,  frequently  referred  to  in 
the  former  part  of  this  work.  It  bears  date  December  7th.  In 


236     '  PAUL   JONES. 

it  he  minutely  recapitulated  the  events,  with  which  he  had  been 
connected  while  in  the  public  service  in  America,  more  briefly 
adverted  to  the  transactions  detailed  in  his  despatches  from 
Europe;  and  thus  concluded:  "  I  now  hope  to  appear  in  Ame- 
rica, in  a  short  time  hence,  and  to  have  the  honour  to  present 
my  respects  in  person  to  Congress  ;  for  I  give  up  the  expecta- 
tion of  ever  commanding  the  Indien ;  and  as  I  believe  the  pri- 
soners I  have  taken  will  effect  the  exchange  of  all  our  fellow 
subjects,  who  are  now  in  the  English  prisons,  I  shall  hope  to  be 
afterwards  more  usefully  employed  under  the  immediate  direc- 
tion of  Congress.  I  have  not  drawn  my  sword  in  our  glorious 
cause  for  hire,  but  in  support  of  the  dignity  of  human  nature, 
and  in  obedience  to  the  genuine  and  divine  feelings  of  philan- 
thropy. I  hoisted  with  my  own  hand  the  flag  of  freedom,  the 
first  time  that  it  was  displayed  on  board  the  Alfred  on  the 
Delaware,  and  I  have  attended  it  ever  since  with  veneration  on 
the  ocean.  I  claimed  and  obtained  its  first  salute  from  that  of 
France,  before  our  independence  was  otherwise  announced  in 
that  kingdom,  and  no  man  can  wish  more  ardently  to  support  its 
rising  glory  than  myself.  1  never  have  asked,  and  I  have  now 
to  ask  no  other  favour  from  Congress,  than  the  continuance  of 
thatgood  opinion,  which  has  in  time  past  made  me  so  happy,  and 
so  greatly  overpaid  my  endeavour  to  do  my  duty." 

The  final  arrangement  adopted  in  relation  to  the  prisoners, 
by  the  express  wish  of  his  majesty  the  king  of  France,  was,  that 
they  should  be  exchanged  for  French  prisoners  at  the  Texel ; 
France  giving  the  same  number  in  France,  to  exchange  against 
the  Americans  in  England.  This  was  effected  with  a  great 
deal  of  difficulty.  The  hundred  of  whom  Jones  speaks,  in  the 
letter  to  Franklin  last  quoted  from,  were  the  sick  and  wounded 
who  had  been  landed  at  the  Fort,  and  whom  he  persevered  in 
retaining,  under  his  express  agreement  with  Captain  Pearson. 

Whatever  might  have  been  the  previous  propositions  as  to  his 
accepting  a  French  commission,  an  offer  was  now  made  by  di- 
rection of  M.  de  la  Sartine,  and  communicated  by  the  ambas- 
sador, which  excited  the  indignation  of  Jones  in  no  small  degree ; 


PAUL   JONES.  237 

and  it  will  not  be  thought,  under  all  the  circumstances,  that  he 
expressed  it  in  language  either  too  strong  or  not  sufficiently 
respectful.  He  thus  addressed  the  French  ambassador,  on  the 
13th  December. 

"  MY  LORD, 

"  Perhaps  there  are  many  men  in  the  world,  who  would 
esteem  as  an  honour  the  commission  that  I  have  this  day  refu- 
sed. My  rank  from  the  beginning  knew  no  superior  in  the 
marine  of  America ;  how  then  must  I  be  humbled  were  I  to 
accept  a  letter  of  marque  !  I  should,  my  lord,  esteem  myself 
inexcusable,  were  I  to  accept  even  a  commission  of  equal  or  su- 
perior denomination  to  that  I  bear,  unless  I  were  previously 
authorised  by  Congress,  or  some  other  competent  authority  in 
Europe.  And  I  must  tell  you,  that  on  my  arrival  at  Brest  from 
the  Irish  channel,  Count  D'Orvilliers  offered  to  procure  for 
me  from  court,  a  commission  of  '  Capitaine  de  Vaisseau,'  which 
I  did  not  then  accept  for  the  same  reason,  although  the  war 
between  France  and  England  was  not  then  begun,  and  of  course 
the  commission  of  France  would  have  protected  me  from  an 
enemy  of  superior  force. 

"  It  is  a  matter  of  the  highest  astonishment  to  me,  that,  after 
so  many  compliments  and  fair  professions,  the  court,  should 
offer  the  present  insult  to  my  understanding,  and  suppose  me 
capable  of  disgracing  my  present  commission.  I  confess  that  I 
never  merited  all  the  praise  bestowed  on  my  past  conduct,  but 
I  also  feel  that  I  have  far  less  merited  such  a  reward.  Where 
profession  and  practice  are  so  opposite,  I  am  no  longer  weak 
enough  to  form  a  wrong  conclusion.  They  may  think  as  they 
please  of  me ;  for  where  I  cannot  continue  my  esteem,  praise 
or  censure  from  any  man  is  to  me  a  matter  of  indifference. 

"  I  am  much  obliged  to  them,  however,  for  having  at  last 
fairly  opened  my  eyes,  and  enabled  me  to  discover  truth  from 
falsehood. 

The  prisoners  shall  be  delivered  agreeable  to  the  orders 


238  PAUL   JONES. 

which  you  have  done  me  the  honour  to  send  to  me,  from  his 
excellency  the  American  ambassador  in  France. 

"  I  will  also  with  great  pleasure,  not  only  permit  a  part  of  my 
seamen  to  go  on  board  the  ships  under  your  excellency's  orders, 
but  I  will  also  do  my  utmost  to  prevail  with  them  to  embark 
freely  ;  and  if  I  can  now  or  hereafter,  by  any  other  honourable 
means,  facilitate  the  success  or  the  honour  of  his  majesty's 
arms,  I  pledge  myself  to  you  as  his  ambassador,  that  none  of 
his  own  subjects  would  bleed  in  his  cause  with  greater  freedom 
than  myself,  an  American. 

"  It  gives  me  the  more  pain,  my  lord,  to  write  this  letter,  be- 
cause the  court  has  enjoined  you  to  prepare  what  would  destroy 
my  peace  of  mind,  and  my  future  veracity  in  the  opinion  of  the 
world. 

"  When,  with  the  consent  of  court  and  by  order  of  the  Ameri- 
can ambassador,  I  gave  American  commissions  to  French 
officers,  I  did  not  fill  up  those  commissions  to  command  priva- 
teers, nor  even  for  a  rank  equal  to  that  of  their  commissions  in 
the  marine  of  France.  They  were  promoted  to  rank  far  supe- 
rior ;  and  why  ?  not  from  personal  friendship,  nor  from  my 
knowledge  of  their  services  and  abilities,  (the  men  and  their 
characters  being  entire  strangers  to  me,)  but  from  the  respect 
which  I  believed  America  would  wish  to  show  for  the  service  of 
France. 

"  While  I  remained  eight  months  seemingly  forgot  by  the 
court  at  Brest,  many  commissions,  such  as  that  in  question,  were 
offered  to  me  ;  and  I  believe,  (when  I  am  in  pursuit  of  plunder,) 
I  can  still  obtain  such  an  one  without  application  to  court. 

t:  I  hope,  my  lord,  that  my  behaviour  through  life  will  ever 
entitle  me  to  the  continuance  of  your  good  wishes  and  opinion, 
and  that  you  will  take  occasion  to  make  mention  of  the  warm 
and  personal  affection  with  which  my  heart  is  impressed  towards 
his  majesty.  "  I  am,  &c.  &c." 

To  Franklin,  to  whom  he  enclosed  the  copy  of  this  letter,  he 
broke  out  in  terms  less  constrained. 


PAUL  JONES.  239 

"  I  hope,"  he  said,  "  that  the  within  copy  of  my  letter  to  the 
Due  de  la  Vauguyon  will  meet  your  approbation  ;  for  I  am 
persuaded  that  it  never  could  be  your  intention  or  wish  that  I 

should  be  made  the  tool  of  any  great  r whatever  ;  or  that 

the  commission  of  America  should  be  overlaid  by  the  dirty 
piece  of  parchment  which  I  have  this  day  rejected  !  They  have 
played  upon  my  good  humour  too  long  already,  but  the  spell  is 
at  last  dissolved.  They  would  play  me  off  with  assurance  of 
the  personal  and  particular  esteem  of  the  king,  to  induce  me  to 
do  what  would  render  me  contemptible  even  in  the  eyes  of  my 
own  servants  !  Accustomed  to  speak  untruths  themselves,  they 
would  also  have  me  to  give  under  my  hand  that  I  am  a  liar  and 
a  scoundrel.  They  are  mistaken,  and  I  would  tell  them  what 
you  did  to  your  naughty  servant.  *  We  have  too  contemptible 
an  opinion  of  one  another's  understanding  to  live  together.'  I 

could  tell  them,  too,  that  if  M de  C had  not  taken  such 

safe  precautions  to  keep  me  honest  by  means  of  his  famous  con- 
cordat, and  to  support  me  by  so  many  able  colleagues,  these 
great  men  would  not  have  been  reduced  to  such  mean  shifts  ; 
for  the  prisoners  could  have  been  landed  at  Dunkirk  the  day 
that  I  entered  the  Texel,  and  I  could  have  brought  in  double 
the  numbers." 

"  We  hear  that  the  enemy  still  keeps  a  squadron  cruising  off 
here,  but  this  shall  not  prevent  my  attempts  to  depart,  when- 
ever the  wind  will  permit.  I  hope  we  have  recovered  the  trim 
of  this  ship,  which  was  entirely  lost  during  the  last  cruise  ;  and 
I  do  not  much  fear  the  enemy  in  the  long  and  dark  nights  of 
this  season.  The  ship  is  well  manned,  and  shall  not  be  given 
away.  I  need  not  tell  you  I  will  do  my  utmost  to  take  prisoners 
and  prizes  in  my  way  from  hence." 

The  squadron  of  Holland,  (thirteen  two-deckers,)  according 
to  his  Journal,  had  been  drawn  up  and  barricaded  every  day 
for  battle,  for  more  than  a  month,  to  drive  him  out  if  he  should 
attempt  to  remain  after  the  wind  became  fair,  while  the  English 
fleet  was  almost  constantly  in  sight  off  the  harbour."  On  the 
16th,  the  Vice  Admiral  Reynst  sent  to  request  him  to  come  on 


240  PATTL   JONES. 

board  of  his  ship,  from  which  he  excused  himself.  On  the  next 
day  the  vice  admiral  wrote  to  him  :  "  I  desire  you  by  this  pre- 
sent letter,  to  please  to  inform  me  how  I  must  consider  the 
Alliance  which  you  are  on  board  of:  whether  as  a  French  or 
American  vessel.  If  the  first,  I  expect  you  to  cause  his  majesty's 
commission  to  be  shown  to  me,  and  that  you  display  the  French 
flag  and  pendant,  announcing  it  by  discharging  a  gun.  If  the 
second,  I  expect  you  to  omit  no  occasion  of  departing,  according 
to  the  orders  of  their  high  mightinesses."  This  letter  Jones 
communicated  to  the  French  commissary  of  marine  at  Amster- 
dam, the  Chevalier  de  Lironcourt,  then  at  the  Helder,  who  in 
his  immediate  reply,  courteously  suggested  that  Jones  would 
give  the  highest  satisfaction  to  all  parties  by  displaying  French 
colours,  but  said  that  he  would  urge  him  no  more  ;  assuring 
him  that  the  brevet  which  had  been  tendered  to  him  was  only 
intended  for  the  existing  exigency,  and  the  good  of  the  common 
cause ;  and  not  offered  from  any  of  the  discreditable  motives 
imagined  by  him.  Jones  briefly  answered  the  admiral  that  he 
had  no  orders  to  hoist  any  other  flag ;  and  that  whenever  the 
pilot  would  take  it  upon  him  to  conduct  the  ship  to  sea,  he  would 
give  him  his  best  assistance. 

On  the  21st,  the  Duke  de  la  Vauguyon,  addressed  an  epistle 
to  Jones,  well  calculated  to  soothe  his  exasperated  feelings,  and 
which  had  the  desired  effect  to  a  certain  extent. 

"  I  perceive  with  pain,  my  dear  commodore,"  he  said,  "  that 
you  do  not  view  your  situation  in  the  right  light ;  and  I  can  as- 
sure you  that  the  ministers  of  the  king  have  no  intention  to 
cause  you  the  least  disagreeable  feeling,  as  the  honourable 
testimonials  of  the  esteem  of  his  majesty,  which  I  send  you, 
ought  to  convince  you.  I  hope  you  will  not  doubt  the  sincere 
desire  with  which  you  have  inspired  me  to  procure  you  every 
satisfaction  you  may  merit.  It  cannot  fail  to  incite  you  to  give 
new  proofs  of  your  zeal  for  the  common  cause  of  France  and 
America.  I  flatter  myself  to  renew,  before  long,  the  occasion, 
and  to  procure  you  the  means  to  increase  still  more  the  glory 
you  have  already  acquired.  I  am  already  occupied  with  all  the 


PAUL  JONES. 


241 


interest  1  promised  you  ;  and  if  my  views  are  realized,  as  I  have 
every  reason  to  believe,  you  will  be  at  all  events  perfectly  con- 
tent ,  but  I  must  pray  you  not  to  hinder  my  project  by  deliver- 
ing yourself  to  the  expression  of  those  strong  sensations  to  which 
you  appear  to  give  way,  and  for  which  there  is  really  no  found 
ation.  You  appear  to  possess  full  confidence  in  the  justice 
and  kindness  of  the  king ;  rely  also  upon  the  same  sentiments 
on  the  part  of  his  ministers." 

In  reply,  Jones  wrote  as  follows,  on  the  25th  :  "  I  have  not 
a  heart  of  stone,  but  am  duly  sensible  of  the  obligations  con- 
ferred on  me  by  the  very  kind  and  affectionate  letter,  that  you 
have  done  me  the  honour  to  write  me  the  21st  current.  *  *  *  * 
Were  I  to  form  my  opinion  of  the  ministry  from  the  treatment 
that  I  experienced  while  at  Brest,  or  from  their  want  of  con- 
fidence in  me  afterwards,  exclusive  of  what  has  taken  place 
since  I  had  the  misfortune  to  enter  this  port,  I  will  appeal  to 
your  excellency,  as  a  man  of  candour  and  ingenuity,  whether  I 
ought  to  desire  to  prolong  a  connexion  that  has  made  me  so 
unhappy,  and  wherein  I  have  given  so  very  little  satisfaction. 
M.  le  Chevalier  de  Lironcourt  has  lately  made  me  reproaches 
on  account  of  the  expense  that,  he  says,  France  has  been  at  to 
give  me  reputation,  in  preference  to  twenty  captains  of  the  royal 
navy,  better  qualified  than  myself,  and  who,  each  of  them, 
solicited  for  the  command  that  was  lately  given  to  me  ! 

"  This,  I  confess,  is  quite  new,  and  indeed  surprising  to  me ; 
and,  had  I  known  it  before  I  left  France,  I  certainly  should 
have  resigned  in  favour  of  the  twenty  men  of  superior  merit.  I 
do  not,  however,  think  that  his  first  assertion  is  true  ;  for  the 
ministers  must  be  unworthy  of  their  places  were  they  capable  of 
squandering  the  public  money  only  to  give  an  individual  reputa- 
tion ;  and  as  to  the  second,  I  fancy  the  court  will  not  thank  him 
for  having  given  me  that  information,  whether  true  or  false.  1 
may  add  here,  that  with  a  force  so  ill  composed,  and  with 
powers  so  limited,  I  ran  ten  chances  of  ruin  and  dishonour  for 
one  of  gaining  reputation  ;  arid  had  not  the  plea  of  humanity 
in  favour  of  the  unfortunate  Americans  in  English  dungeons 

30 


242  PAUL    JONES. 

superseded  all  consideration  of  self,  I  faithfully  assure  you,  my 
lord,  that  I  would  not  have  proceeded  under  such  circumstances 
from  Groix.  I  do  not  imbibe  hasty  prejudices  against  any  in- 
dividuals ;  but  when  many  and  repeated  circumstances,  con- 
spiring in  one  point,  have  inspired  me  with  disesteem  towards 
any  person,  I  must  see  convincing  proof  of  reformation  in  such 
person  before  my  heart  can  beat  again  with  affection  in  his 
favour  ;  for  the  mind  is  free,  and  can  be  bound  only  by  kind 
treatment.  *  *  *  *  I  hope  I  shall  not  through  any  imprudence 
of  mine,  render  ineffectual  any  noble  design  that  may  be  in  con 
templation  for  the  general  good.  Whenever  that  object  is 
mentioned,  my  private  concerns  are  out  of  the  question  ;  and 
where  I  cannot  speak  exactly  what  I  could  wish  with  respect  to 
my  private  satisfaction,  1  promise  you  in  the  mean  time  to  ob- 
serve a  prudent  silence." 

It  is  truly  wonderful,  that  Jones  should  have  found  time,  in 
the  midst  of  the  difficulties  in  which  he  was  involved,  and  the 
quantity  of  business  which  it  was  necessary  for  him  to  attend  to 
in  person,  during  his  three  months'  blockade  in  the  Texel  road, 
to  have  committed  to  paper  such  a  mass  of  correspondence  as 
has  even  been  preserved.  This  long  memorial  must  have  been 
composed  about  the  time  of  its  date.  He  was  in  daily  corres- 
pondence with  the  diplomatic  M.  Dumas,  to  whom  he  submitted 
all  his  letters  for  his  inspection  and  advice.  He  had,  however, 
in  the  beginning  of  November,  refused  very  warm  and  polite 
invitations,  to  visit  either  Amsterdam  or  even  the  Hague. 
"  Duty,"  he  said,  "  must  take  the  precedence  of  pleasure.  I 
must  wait  a  more  favourable  opportunity  to  kiss  the  hands  of 
the  fair."  He  was  indeed  most  intensely  and  indefatigably 
employed  all  this  time,  in  persevering  efforts  to  effect  the  fixed 
purpose  of  his  soul,  let  fluctuating  neutral  policy  take  what 
course  it  might,  or  vacillating  ministers  yield  what  points  they 
might  think  unimportant,  or  Sir  Joseph  Yorke  fulmine  or  in- 
trigue as  he  pleased.  We  find  Jones  subsequently  apologizing 
for  not  having  answered  in  rhyme  the  metrical  effusions  of  a 
young  lady,  the  daughter  of  M.  Dumas,  who  did  poetical  homage 


PAUL   JONES.  243 

to  the  chivalric  and  gallant  commodore,  and  whom  1  e  styled 
the  "  Virgin  Muse."  Verily,  he  had  other  business  to  transact 
than  that  of  tagging  couplets  together  ;  and  though  he  aspired 
most  devoutly  to  please  the  fair,  and  was  dearly  sensible  of  their 
attentions,  I  can  find  no  foundation  for  the  remark  of  one  of  his 
biographers,  that  his  neglect  to  answer  the  last  copy  of  the 
lady's  verses,  "  appears  to  have  weighed  more  on  his  mind  than 
all  the  squadrons  and  remonstrances  of  the  enemy."  It  only 
drew  somewhat  heavy  draughts  on  his  stock  of  complimentary 
language,  and  vocabulary  of  badinage. 

On  the  27th  of  December,  the  wind  serving,  he  set  sail  from 
the  Texel,  leaving,  to  use  the  musty  proverb,  the  frying  pan, 
in  which  he  had  been  so  long  kept  hot,  at  the  risk  of  encounter- 
ing the  fire,  with  which  the  English  cruisers  would  have  been 
well  pleased  to  have  favoured  him.  From  .the  Alliance,  at  sea, 
he  wrote  on  this  day  to  M.  Dumas  : 

"  I  am  here,  my  dear  sir,  with  a  good  wind  at  east,  and 
under  my  best  American  colours — so  far  you  have  your  wish. 
What  may  be  the  event  of  this  critical  moment  I  know  not ;  I 
am  not,  however,  without  good  hopes.  Through  the  ignorance 
or  drunkenness  of  the  old  pilot,  the  Alliance  last  night  got  foul 
of  a  Dutch  merchant  ship,  and  I  believe  the  Dutchmen  cut  our 
cable.  We  lost  the  best  bower  anchor,  and  the  ship  was  brought 
up  with  the  sheet  anchor  so  near  the  shore,  that  this  morning  I 
have  been  obliged  to  cut  the  cable  in  order  to  get  clear  of  the 
shore,  and  that  I  might  not  lose  this  opportunity  of  escaping 
from  purgatory." 

His  Journal  for  the  King,  contains  the  following  account  of 
this  nice  and  successful  operation  of  seamanship.  "  He  passed," 
he  states,  "  along  the  Flemish  banks,  and,  getting  to  windward 
of  the  enemy's  fleets  of  observation  in  the  North  Sea,  he  the 
next  day  passed  through  the  Straits  of  Dover,  in  full  view  of 
the  enemy's  fleet  in  the  Downs.  The  day  following  Captain 

- 

•-    '. 
•   • 


244  PAUL   JONES. 

Jones  ran  the  Alliance  past  the  Isle  of  Wight,  in  view  of  the 
enemy's  fleet  at  Spithead,  and  in  two  days  more  got  safe  through 
the  Channel,  having  passed  by  windward  in  sight  of  several  of 
the  enemy's  large  two-decked  cruising  ships.  Captain  Jones 
wished  to  carry  with  him  some  prizes  and  prisoners  to  France ; 
but  the  Alliance,  by  the  arrangement  Captain  Landais  had 
made  of  the  ballast  at  L'Orient,  was  out  of  trim,  and  could  not 
sail  fast,  her  sails  being  too  thin  and  old  for  cold  latitudes.  He 
steered  to  the  southward,  and  cruised  for  some  days  without 
success  off  Cape  Finisterre.  On  the  16th  of  January,  1780, 
Captain  Jones,  to  shun  a  gale  of  wind,  and  procure  a  sound 
anchor,  (for  he  had  left  the  Texel  with  only  one,)  ran  into  Co- 
rogne.  He  was  very  kindly  received  in  Spain,  but  sailed  again, 
and  arrived  at  Groix  on  the  10th  February,  having  taken  no 
prizes  ;  but  met  with  and  conducted  in  the  American  merchant 
ship  Livingston,  with  a  large  cargo  of  tobacco,  from  Virginia 
for  Bordeaux." 

It  is  barely  necessary  here  to  beg  the  reader  to  remember, 
that  the  conduct  of  Jones  during  his  stay  in  the  Texel,  placed 
Holland  in  such  a  situation,  that  England  could  not  but  treat 
her  as  an  alienated  friend  ;  that  the  formal  manifesto  or  decla- 
ration of  war,  published  at  the  end  of  the  year  1780,  set  forth 
the  entertainment  of  Jones'  squadron,  and  the  license  given  to 
him  to  depart,  (a  license  not  very  enviable  under  such  circum- 
stances,) as  the  main  acts  which  justified  open  hostility ;  that 
few  of  the  few  celebrated  "  Retreats,"  either  on  land  or  water, 
in  which  neither  honour  nor  any  material  point  of  vantage  was 
lost,  can  overmatch  that  of  Jones  from  the  Texel ;  and  we  may 
be  spared  from  attempting  formal  panegyric  on  actions,  which 
have  few  parallels  in  history,  when  the  performance  involved 
such  important  political  results. 

Three  days  after  being  at  sea,  on  this  skittish  voyage,  we 
find  Jones  actually  fulfilling  his  obligations  to  his  fair  correspon- 
dent at  Amsterdam,  by  writing  a  copy  of  verses,  as  good  as  those 
of  any  naval  commander  whom  we  happen  to  think  of,  except 
Sir  Walter  Raleigh  ;  and  of  a  kind  which  though  rejected  by 


PAUL   JONES.  245 

"  Gods  and  columns,"  served  in  the  days  of  our  forefathers  to 
please  very  respectable  "  men"  and  women  too.*  The  pro- 
duction was  dated  on  the  New  Year's  day  of  1780.  According 
to  our  modern  notions,  were  it  not  that  in  the  second  and  third 
stanzas,  he  got  irregularly  rid  of  three  lumbering  Alexandrines 
introduced  in  the  first,  his  metre  had  as  much  pretension  to  be 
called  poetry,  as  nine  tenths  of  the  vers  de  societe  of  the  French 
Classical  School,  or  the  magazine  poetry  of  England  and  its 
colonies,  at  that  period. 

Previous  to  his  entering  the  port  of  L'Orient  in  February, 
we  find  but  two  letters  from  his  pen,  which  are  preserved.  He 
wrote  from  Corunna  on  the  16th  January  to  La  Fayette,  men- 
tioning very  briefly  his  detention  in  the  "  detestable  road"  of  the 
Texel,  and  his  mortification  at  being  offered  a  letter  of  marque. 
"  I  steered  this  way,"  he  said,  "  in  hopes  of  meeting  some  of 
their  cruisers  off  Cape  Finisterre,  but  am  hitherto  disappointed. 
It  being  very  stormy  weather,  I  this  evening  anchored  here, 
where  I  mean  only  to  scrub  the  bottom,  and  take  a  little  fresh 
water,  &c."  On  the  20th,  he  addressed  the  president  of  Con- 
gress, from  on  board  the  Alliance  off  Corunna,  enclosing  quad- 
ruplicate despatches.  He  expressed  a  hope  that  his  refusal  of 
a  French  commission  would  not  be  disagreeable  to  Congress, 
and  gave  a  particular  detail  of  the  manner  in  which  forty  Eng- 
lish ships  of  the  line  and  frigates,  (two  of  which  were  lost,)  were 
for  six  weeks  stationed  to  intercept  him. 

Before  proceeding  with  the  transactions  subsequent  to  his 
arrival  at  L'Orient,  the  situation  of  the  two  prizes  sent  by  Lan- 
dais  to  Norway,  "  under  the  nose  of  Jones,"  as  he  expresses  it, 
and  in  defiance  of  his  orders,  claims  a  passing  notice. 

The  ship  Betsy,  of  22  guns  and  84  men,  and  the  Union  of  the 
like  force,  with  a  quantity  of  naval  stores  on  board,  arrived  at 
Bergen  on  the  12th  September,  under  the  conduct  of  two  of  the 
officers  of  the  Alliance.  Immediate  attention  was  paid  to  them 


*  See  Appendix  No.  IX. 


246  PAUL   JONES. 

by  the  consular  agent  of  France,  M.  Dechezaulx  who  wrote  to 
apprize  Dr.  Franklin  of  their  arrival,  and  also  to  M.  Caillard 
the  charge  d'affaires  of  France  at  the  court  of  Denmark.  These 
prizes  were  of  value,*  but  had  suffered  considerably  at  sea,  and 
stood  in  need  of  repairs.  They  were  also  badly  manned.  M. 
Dechezaulx  had  instructions  from  Sartine,  to  render  the  same 
services  to  vessels  of  the  United  States  as  to  those  of  France. 
He  was  in  hopes  that  the  sale  of  these  prizes  would  be  allowed 
or  overlooked  by  the  Danish  authorities,  though  the  indepen- 
dence of  the  United  States  had  not  been  recognised  by  that 
court  j  but  of  course  expected  the  most  vehement  opposition 
from  the  English  consul.  This  apprehension  was  soon  dis- 
agreeably realized.  On  the  26th  of  October,  he  wrote  to  inform 
Franklin  that  a  resolution  had  been  adopted  by  the  court  of  Den- 
mark, "  unjust  and  contrary  to  the  law  of  nations,"  to  restore 
the  ships  to  the  English  government,  and  that  they  had  been 
delivered  up  accordingly.  The  decision  had  been  sudden  and 
totally  unexpected.  The  order  given  by  Landais  to  the  officers 
who  had  them  in  charge  was,  simply  to  conduct  them  to  Ber- 
gen, and  M.  Dechezaulx  had  no  authority,  without  receiving 
orders  from  Franklin,  to  send  them  away,  had  they  been  in  a 
condition  to  put  to  sea.  The  resolution  was  not  communicated 
to  the  French  charge  d'affaires,  until  some  time  after  it  had 
been  made,  during  which  time  he  had  conferences  with  the 
Danish  minister  in  relation  to  the  prizes.  Nothing  could  be 
done  under  these  circumstances  by  the  American  officers,  who 
were  obliged  to  go  on  shore  with  upwards  of  twenty  men,  and 
with  no  provision  made  for  them,  except  to  enter  their  formal 
protest  against  the  proceedings.  The  governor,  however, 
assured  them  that  he  would  exert  himself  in  their  behalf;  and 
the  principal  merchants  offered  them  every  assistance.  A  few 
weeks  after,  the  governor  informed  them,  that  he  was  author- 
ized to  pay  their  expenses,  and  that  there  was  a  probability  that 


*  M.  Dechezauh  estimated  them  to  be  worth  at  least  40,00(M.  sterling. 


PAUL   JONES.  247 

the  ships  would  be  paid  for,  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  American 
government ;  a  cheap  promise,  never  fulfilled.  Franklin  ad- 
dressed Count  Bernstoff,  the  Danish  minister,  on  the  subject. 
But  his  lettDr  was  not  received  until  the  31st  of  January.  On 
the  4th  of  that  month,  we  find  the  officers,  five  in  number,  with- 
out any  advices  from  Franklin,  representing  that,  "  they  greatly 
regretted  remaining  in  such  an  inactive  state,  being  unable  to 
render  any  service  whatever,  either  to  their  country  or  them- 
selves." Of  those  prizes,  which  became  subsequently  the  sub- 
ject of  much  negotiation,  it  is  only  necessary  to  add  here,  that 
they  were  totally  lost  to  the  United  States,  by  the  perverse  folly 
and  wilful  disobedience  of  Landais.  Another  prize  called  the 
Charming  Polly,  was  also  sent  to  Bergen,  where  she  arrived 
after  the  Union  and  Betsy,  and  shared  the  same  fate. 

The  events  of  the  year  1780,  during  which  Jones  was  in 
France,  and  the  correspondence  of  that  period  must  be  suc- 
cinctly referred  to.  The  latter  is  voluminous,  and  with  the  help 
of  imagination  some  romance  might  be  constructed  out  of  the 
letters  of  fair  ladies,  known  and  anonymous.  But  our  business 
is  with  truth,  and  we  must  confine  ourselves  within  certain 
limits. 

From  the  fatigues  Jones  had  undergone,  his  health  was  im- 
paired, and  when  he  anchored  at  Groix,  he  was  almost  blind 
from  the  soreness  of  his  eyes.  He  went  up  to  L'Orient  for  a 
change  of  air,  whence  he  addressed  Franklin  on  the  13th  of 
February.  His  first  object  was  to  repair  the  Alliance  ;  and  he 
set  about  his  preparations  for  that  business  with  a  zeal,  and  on 
a  scale,  which  the  economical  Franklin  in  vain  endeavoured  to 
control  and  reduce.  The  cutwater  of  that  vessel  had  been 
wrenched  out  of  its  place,  and  her  trim  could  not  be  regained 
without  altering  the  arrangement  of  the  ballast,  which  Jones 
says,  he  understood  "  Captain  Landais  had  extended  along  the 
ceiling  from  the  stem  post  to  the  stern  ;  an  idea  that  I  believe 
he  may  without  vanity  call  his  own."  Jones  had  ordered  can- 
vass and  cordage  from  Amsterdam.  He  also  proposed  to  sheathe 
the  bottom  with  copper,  if  it  could  be  afforded.  The  other 


248  PAUL   JONES. 

ships  left  in  the  Texel  road  had  arrived  in  France,  the  Dutch 
fleet  giving  them  convoy.  The  Serapis  was  at  L'Orient,  and 
her  conqueror  wished  she  could  be  made  the  property  of  Ame- 
rica. The  Countess  of  Scarborough  was  at  Dunkirk.  The 
American  minister  found  himself  compelled  to  use  the  language 
of  supplication. 

"  As  to  refitting  your  ship  at  the  expense  of  this  court,"  he 
said,  "  I  must  acquaint  you  that  there  is  not  the  least  proba- 
bility of  obtaining  it,  and  therefore  I  cannot  ask  it.  1  hear  too 
much  already  of  the  extraordinary  expense  you  made  in  Hol- 
land, to  think  of  proposing  an  addition  to  it,  especially,  as  you 
seem  to  impute  the  damage  she  has  sustained,  more  to  Captain 
Landais'  negligence,  than  to  accidents  of  the  cruise.  The 
whole  expense  will,  therefore,  fall  upon  me,  and  I  am  ill  provi- 
ded to  bear  it,  having  so  many  unexpected  calls  upon  me  from 
all  quarters.  I,  therefore,  beg  you  would  have  mercy  on  me, 
put  me  to  as  little  charge  as  possible,  and  take  nothing  you  can 
possibly  do  without.  As  to  sheathing  with  copper,  it  is  totally 
out  of  the  question.  I  am  not  authorized  to  do  it,  if  I  had  money ; 
and  I  have  not  money  for  it,  if  I  had  orders.  The  purchase 
of  the  Serapis  is  in  the  same  predicament.  I  believe  the  send- 
ing canvass  and  cordage  from  Amsterdam  has  already  been 
forbidden  ;  if  not,  I  shall  forbid  it.  I  approve  of  your  applying 
to  Messrs.  Gourlade  and  Moylan  for  what  repairs  you  want, 
having  an  exceeding  good  opinion  of  those  gentlemen  ;  but  let 
me  repeat  it,  for  God's  sake  be  sparing,  unless  you  mean  to  make 
me  a  bankrupt,  or  have  your  drafts  dishonoured,  for  want  of 
money  in  my  hands  to  pay  them." 

To  this  earnest  exhortation,  Jones  said  in  reply,  "  I  feel  your 
reasons  for  urging  frugality  ;  and  as  I  have  not  hitherto  been 
among  the  most  extravagant  servants  of  America,  so  you  may 
depend  upon  it,  my  regard  for  you  will  make  me  particularly 
nice  in  my  present  situation."  In  his  answer  to  questions  sub- 
sequently proposed  by  the  American  board  of  Admiralty,  which 
had  now  been  established,  Jones  gives  a  truly  deplorable  account 
of  the  condition  of  the  Alliance,  which,  on  being  thoroughly  ex- 


PAUL   JONES.  249 

amined,  proved  deficient  and  inconvenient  in  its  original  con- 
struction, and  altogether  ill  contrived.  The  essential  repairs 
were  finished  by  the  middle  of  April,  by  the  crew  of  the  ship 
and  four  or  five  American  carpenters.  The  materials  of  the 
old  arrangement  nearly  sufficed  to  finish  the  new.  Jones  says, 
"judges  allowed  that  when  the  business  was  finished,  every  thing 
about  that  frigate  was  perfect.  I  know  not  what  was  the 
amount  of  the  disbursements."  In  his  Journal  for  the  king,  he 
says,  "  She  was  thought  one  of  the  completes!  frigates  in  France." 
It  may  easily  be  conjectured  that  the  entreaties  of  the  illustrious 
author  of  Poor  Richard  were  not  always  remembered,  while  this 
metamorphose  was  in  process. 

At  this  time,  he  seen?«  to  have  thought  that  an  opinion  was 
entertained,  probably  on  account  of  his  having  rejected  the 
French  commission  so  indignantly,  that  his  feelings  towards  the 
nation  were  unfriendly.  This  impression  he  thought  it  neces- 
sary to  counteract.  Writing  to  La  Fayette,  he  said :  "  With- 
drawn as  I  am  at  present  from  the  public  attention,  and  having 
endeavoured  only  by  my  past  conduct  to  prove  my  zeal  for  the 
common  cause,  it  is  strange  that  I  cannot  escape  the  malicious 
attacks  of  little  minds.  If  any  person,  who  has  himself  deserved 
well  of  his  country,  can  accuse  me  of  ingratitude,  let  him 
step  forth  like  a  man,  and  I  will  answer  en  homme  cThonneur. 
*  *  *  *  To  come  to  the  point,  here  follows  my  political  profes- 
sion. I  am  a  citizen  of  the  world,  totally  unfettered  by  the 
little  mean  distinctions  of  country  or  of  climate ;  which  diminish 
or  set  bounds  to  the  benevolence  of  the  heart.  *  *  *  *  As  an 
American  officer,  and  as  a  man,  I  affectionately  love  and  re- 
spect the  character  and  nation  of  France,  and  hope  the  alliance 
with  America  may  last  for  ever.  I  owe  the  greatest  obligation 
to  the  generous  praises  of  the  French  nation  on  my  past  con- 
duct, and  shall  be  happy  to  merit  future  favour.  I  greatly  love 
and  esteem  his  most  Christian  majesty  as  the  great  ally  of  Ame- 
rica, the  best  of  kings,  and  the  amiable  friend  and  '  protector 
of  the  rights  of  human  nature ;'  therefore,  he  has  very  few  of 
his  own  subjects  who  would  bleed  in  his  present  cause  with 

31 


250  PAUL   JONES. 

greater  freedom  than  myself,  and  none  who  are  more  disinte 
rested.  At  the  sarr.e  time,  I  lament  the  calamities  of  war,  and 
wish  above  all  things,  for  an  honourable,  happy,  and  lasting 
peace.  My  fortune  is  not  augmented  by  the  part  I  have  hitherto 
acted  in  the  revolution,  (although  I  have  had  frequent  oppor- 
tunities of  acquiring  riches,)  and  I  pledge  myself  to  the  worthy 
part  of  mankind,  that  my  future  conduct  in  the  war  shall  not 
forfeit  their  good  opinion.  I  am  ever,  with  great  and  sincere 
affection,  happy  in  your  friendship,  &,c." 

He  gave  assurances  to  the  Duke  de  Vauguyon  to  the  same 
effect. 

"  There  are,  my  lord,  some  of  my  secret  enemies  base 
enough  to  insinuate  that  I  do  not  love  the  nation  of  France  ; 
but  be  assured  that,  though  I  felt  myself  hurt  by  some  measures 
that  were  adopted  towards  me,  and  for  which  I  cannot  yet  see 
any  good  reason,  yet  I  have  never  written,  spoken,  or  even 
thought,  disrespectfully  of  the  nation." 

It  was  unquestionably  for  the  interest  of  any  man  of  common 
prudence,  under  Jones'  circumstances,  to  endeavour  to  conci- 
liate the  good  will  of  the  French  nation.  His  forbearance  as 
to  Landais  proved  that  he  acted  upon  this  conviction.  He  had 
certainly  no  great  cause  to  love  M.  de  la  Sartine,  nor  to  feel 
particularly  warm  towards  the  captains  who  had  been  asso- 
ciated with  him,  from  whatever  cause  their  disagreement  might 
have  arisen.  But  he  was  certainly  honest  in  his  professions  of 
regard  for  the  nation  ;  and  the  subsequent  honours  he  received 
at  court  increased  that  regard  fervently. 

It  was  Franklin's  intention  to  send  the  Alliance  back,  as  soon 
as  she  should  be  in  a  condition  to  make  the  voyage.  Jones  would 
not  have  opposed  this  purpose  ;  though  it  may  fairly  be  supposed 
that  the  interest  he  took  in  the  disposition  which  might  be 
made  of  his  prizes  did  not  make  him  anxious  to  expedite  his 
departure  while  this  was  uncertain,  and  his  crew  were  without 
either  wages  or  prize  money.  We  have  no  reason  to  believe 
that  he  made  any  unnecessary  delay,  when  the  thorough  repairs 
the  Alliance  underwent  are  considered.  Four  gentlemen,  one 


PAUL   JONES.  251 

of  whom  was  Mr.  Arthur  Lee,  were  desirous  of  coming  out  to 
America  by  that  opportunity,  and  Jones  had  promised  to  "  pay 
the  most  cheerful  regard  to  their  accommodation."  Franklin 
also  wished  to  send  to  the  United  States  large  supplies  of  arms 
and  clothing,  (15,000  stand  of  good  arms,  and  120  bales  of 
public  cloth,)  of  which  Jones  said,  "he  hoped  to  be  able  to  cram 
a  great  part,  if  not  the  whole,  into  the  Alliance."  This  could  not 
have  been  done  with  any  convenience,  without  a  material  change 
in  th£  arrangement  of  that  ship.  On  the  1st  of  March,  Franklin 
wrote  that  M.  Sartine  desired  a  place  for  another  passenger, 
and  expressed  a  wish  that  room  should  be  made  for  Mr.  Brown 
of  South  Carolina.  He  added  :  "  Captain  Landais  has  de- 
manded of  me  an  order  to  you,  to  deliver  him  his  trunks  and 
things  that  were  left  on  board  the  Alliance.  I  find  him  so  ex- 
ceedingly captious  and  critical,  and  so  apt  to  misconstrue  as  an 
intended  injustice,  every  expression  in  a  language  which  he 
does  not  immediately  understand,  that  I  am  tired  of  writing  any 
thing  for  him  or  about  him,  and  am  determined  to  have  nothing 
further  to  do  with  him.  I  make  no  doubt,  however,  that  you 
will  deliver  his  things  to  any  person  he  may  empower  to  receive 
them,  and  therefore  think  such  an  order  unnecessary.  *  *  *  * 
Dr.  Bancroft  being  by  this  time  with  you,  will  take  all  steps 
possible  to  promote  your  refitting,  and  forward  the  payment  of 
the  prize  money.  I  do  not  comprehend  what  the  weight  of 
rnetal  has  to  do  with  the  division,  unless  when  ships  are  fitted  out 
by  different  armers.  I  hope  your  indisposition  will  soon  be  over, 
and  your  health  re-established."  On  the  4th  of  the  same  month, 
Franklin  wrote  to  the  president  of  Congress,  that  Jones  would 
carry  the  Alliance  home,  unless  prevailed  on  to  enter  another 
service,  which  he  did  not  think  likely ;  that  Landais  had  not 
applied  to  be  replaced  in  her,  and  had  expressed  to  him  and  to 
other  persons  his  dissatisfaction  with  his  officers,  and  his  incli- 
nation on  that  account  to  leave  her.  This  lunatic  who  was 
subject  to  be  tried  as  an  American  officer,  by  a  court  martial, 
was  also  liable  as  a  subject  of  France,  and  as  holding  its  com- 
mission, to  the  summary  jurisdiction  exercised  in  that  country. 


252  PAUL  JONES. 

When  Franklin,  in  a  letter  addressed  to  Jones  while,  th<t  atter 
was  at  the  Texel,  alluded  to  the  "  concise  operations"  of  the 
ministry,  he  probably  had  the  Bastile  in  his  mind.  It  is  not 
probable  that  pains  would  have  been  taken  to  bring  Landais,  by 
an  American  court  martial,  or  that  he  would  have  been  further 
noticed,  had  not  injudicious  and  officious  individuals  led  him 
to  adopt  a  course  of  conduct,  which  still  further  injured  the 
service. 

He  was  now,  however,  instigated  by  meddling  individuals, 
and  prompted  by  his  own  solemn  vanity  to  ask,  to  be  placed  in 
the  command  of  the  Alliance.  He  wrote  to  this  effect,  on  the 
17th  March.  The  answer  of  Franklin  was  plain  and  severe 
enough :  "  No  one  ever  learned  the  opinion  I  formed  of  you 
from  inquiry  made  into  your  conduct.  I  kept  it  entirely  to  my- 
self. I  have  not  even  hinted  it  in  my  letters  to  America,  because 
I  would  not  hazard  giving  to  any  one  a  bias  to  your  prejudice. 
By  communicating  a,  part  of  that  opinion  privately  to  you  I  can 
do  no  harm,  for  you  may  burn  it.  I  should  not  give  you  the 
pain  of  reading  it,  if  your  demand  did  not  make  it  necessary.  I 
think  you  then,  so  imprudent,  so  litigious,  and  quarrelsome  a 
man,  even  with  your  best  friends,  that  peace  and  good  order, 
and  consequently  the  quiet  and  regular  subordination  so  neces- 
sary to  success,  are,  where  you  preside,  impossible.  These  are 
within  my  observation  and  apprehension.  Your  military  opera- 
tions I  leave  to  more  capable  judges.  If,  therefore,  I  had 
twenty  ships  of  war  in  my  disposition,  I  should  not  give  one  of 
them  to  Captain  Landais.  The  same  temper  which  excluded 
him  from  the  French  marine,  would  weigh  equally  with  me.  Of 
course  I  should  not  replace  him  in  the  Alliance." 

Previous  to  the  letter  or  Franklin,  of  March  4th,  the  board  of 
admiralty  had  resolved  to  order  the  Alliance  home,  with  such 
supplies  as  she  could  bring  out.  It  had  been  judged  necessary 
to  detach  four  ships  to  guard  the  harbour  of  Charleston,  which 
left  the  coasts  exposed  to  the  depredations  of  the  enemy's 
armed  vessels  from  New  York.  On  the  surrender  of  Charles- 


PAUL  JONES.  253 

ton  in  May  following,  these  four  frigates  fell  into  the  hands  of 
the  enemy. 

On  the  18th  of  March,  Franklin  wrote,  that  after  his  de- 
spatches should  have  been  received,  with  some  of  the  supplies, 
he  knew  of  nothing  to  prevent  Jones  from  proceeding  imme- 
diately to  such  port  in  North  America  as  he  could  reach  with 
safety.  He  said :  "I  wish  the  prize  money  due  to  your  people 
could  be  paid  before  you  go.  I  have  spoken  often  about  it." 
He  mentioned  that  it  was  thought  doubtful  whether  any  thing 
could  be  recovered  by  peaceable  means,  for  the  prizes  surren- 
dered in  Norway.  "  The  ships  of  war  that  you  took  are,  I  hear, 
to  be  valued,  the  king  intending  to  purchase  them  ;  and  the 
muster  roll  of  the  Bon  Homme  Richard  is  wanting  in  order  to 
regulate  the  proportions  to  each  ship.  These  things  may  take 
time.  T  have  considered  that  the  people  of  the  Bon  Homme 
may  want  some  little  supplies  for  the  voyage ;  and  therefore,  if 
these  proportions  should  not  be  regulated  and  paid  before  you 
sail,  and  you  find  it  necessary,  you  may  draw  on  me,  as  far  as 
24,000  livres  to  advance  to  them,  for  which  they  are  to  be  ac- 
countable ;  but  do  not  exceed  that  sum.  I  do  this  to  prevent, 
as  far  as  in  me  lies,  the  bad  effect  of  any  uneasiness  among 
them ;  for  I  suppose  that  regularly  all  payments  to  seamen  should 
be  made  at  home."  He  added  his  wishes  that  Jones  should 
join,  if  possible,  the  convoy  which  was  to  sail  at  the  beginning 
of  the  next  month,  and  sail  with  it  until  off  the  coast,  but  left  it 
to  his  discretion  and  judgment.  On  the  1st  of  April,  he  for- 
warded to  him  an  order  for  the  delivery  of  the  arms  above  re- 
ferred to,  and  100,000  pounds  of  gunpowder  ;  and  informed  him 
that  M.  Le  Ray  de  Chaumont  had  directed  his  correspondent 
at  L'Orient,  to  advance  100,000  livres,  for  the  Americans  of  the 
Alliance  and  Bon  Homme  Richard,  on  account.  In  relation  to 
the  distribution  of  the  prize  money,  Franklin,  the  best  authority, 
said  in  answer  to  the  questions  of  the  admiralty  board,  that 
no  agreement  had  been  made  by  him  or  on  his  behalf,  with  the 
armers  of  the  ships  acting  in  concert  with  the  Alliance.  That 
he  supposed  the  division  would  be  according  to  the  laws  of 


254  PAUL   JONES. 

France  or  America,  as  might  be  found  most  equitable ;  but  tnut 
the  captains  had  entered  into  an  agreement;  called  the  concor- 
dat, to  divide  according  to  the  rules  of  America,  under  whose 
commissions  and  colours  they  acted.  To  this  provision  of  the 
concordat,  Jones,  it  will  be  remembered  could  have  had  no  ob- 
jection, as  he  had  urged  before  its  being  signed  the  propriety  of 
adopting  an  equal  plan  of  distribution.  Franklin,  in  the  answer 
before  referred  to,  gives  a  true  and  brief  account  of  a  long  story, 
as  follows.  He  says,  that  the  officers  and  men  of  the  Alliance 
"  were  encouraged  by  some  meddling  passengers  to  persist. 
The  king  would  have  taken  the  prizes,  and  paid  for  them,  at 
the  rate  per  gun,  <fcc.  as  he  pays  for  warlike  vessels  taken  by 
his  ships,  but  they  raised  a  clamor  at  this,  it  being  put  into  their 
heads  that  it  was  a  project  for  cheating  them,  and  they  demand- 
ed a  sale  by  auction.  The  minister,  who  usually  gives  more, 
when  ships  are  taken  for  the  king,  than  they  will  produce  by 
auction,  readily  consented  to  this,  when  I  asked  it  of  him  ;  but 
then  this  method  required  time  to  have  them  inventoried,  adver- 
tised in  different  ports,  to  create  a  fuller  concurrence  of  buyers, 
&c. ;  Captain  Jones  came  up  to  Paris,  to  hasten  the  proceed- 
ings. In  his  absence  Captain  Landais,  by  the  advice  of  Mr. 
Lee  and  Commodore  Gillon,  took  possession  of  the  ship,  and 
kept  her  long  in  writing  up  to  Paris,  waiting  answers,  &c." 

The  matters  above  recapitulated  must  be  referred  to  more 
in  detail ;  but  the  reader  will  best  understand  from  it  the 
difficulties  about  the  adjustment  of  claims  for  prize  money. 

The  100,000  livres,  were  not  forth  coming,  with  the  instari- 
taneity  expected  by  Jones.  On  the  4th  of  April,  Jones  wrote 
to  Franklin,  "  I  fear  that  you  will  now  find  that  M.  Chaumont 
has  imposed  upon  you,  by  promising  what  he  has  had  no  inten- 
tion to  perform.  He  has  given  me  no  means  of  advancing 
money  here  ;  and  if  the  people  remain  much  longer  dissatisfied, 
1  tremble,  and  let  him  tremble  too.  for  the  consequence.  Besides 
the  affairs  mentioned  in  the  written  letter,  he  has  made  another 
proposition  that  an  honest  man  would  be  ashamed  of.  I  wait 
for  something  further  by  the  next  post,  for  I  am  very  loth  to 


PAUL   JONES.  255 

expose  his  conduct,  and  willing  to  give  him  time  to  repent." 
Such  was  the  strong  language  which  he  used  under  immediate 
disappointment  and  misapprehension.  While  it  requires  inser- 
tion, it  equally  requires  such  explanation  as  can  readily  be  given. 
Jones  supposed  M.  Chaumont,  the  commissary,  as  he  called 
him,  to  have  money  of  the  government  in  his  hands  or  at  com- 
mand. The  fact  was,  that  he  wa^s  largely  in  advance  on  his 
own  account  to  the  new  republic ;  and  that  the  ofter  to  advance 
the  100,000  livres,  was  a  voluntary  one.  It  has  already  been 
mentioned  that  the  correspondence  between  him  and  Jones,  ex- 
cept as  it  was  official,  had  ceased.  What  was  meant  by  the 
"  shameful"  proposition  spoken  of  is  left  for  conjecture.  It  is 
certain  that  neither  Franklin  nor  La  Fayette  ever  found  out 
any  thing  that  was  disgraceful  in  the  conduct  of  M.  de  Chau- 
mont. It  also  appears  that  the  latter,  having  all  the  risk  upon 
his  own  shouldors,  wanted  the  business  vouchers,  which  would 
at  least  be  evidence  of  his  advances,  whether  he  could  ever  re- 
cover them  or  not.  According  to  a  memorandum  given  by 
Jones  to  M.  de  la  Sartine  on  the  20th  May,  it  appears  that  M. 
de  Chaumont,  wished  the  muster  roll  of  the  crew  of  the  Bon 
Homme  Richard  to  state  the  men's  wages  as  commencing  in 
June,  when  many  of  them  had  enlisted  in  February  and  March. 
At  that  time,  those  rated  according  to  his  request,  had  been 
paid.  Objections  were  made  also  to  the  payment  of  30,000 
livres,  to  the  crew  of  the  Alliance,  for  the  time  during  which 
they  served  under  Jones  on  the  expedition,  which  Franklin  had 
not  the  appropriate  funds  to  meet.  Happily  for  the  compiler, 
it  is  unnecessary  to  explore  the  reasons,  or  their  merits,  for 
these  distinctions,  or  enter  into  calculations  of  dollars  and  cents. 
The  only  other  letter  of  Jones  from  L'Orient  at  this  time,  "was 
addressed  to  Dr.  Bancroft,  on  the  7th  of  April.  It  is  amusing 
as  a  specimen  of  those  "machines"  and  "locks"  which  wanted 
"  keys,"  which  he  alluded  to  in  a  letter  to  La  Fayette,  and 
which  he  was  fond  of  manufacturing.  "  Judge  of  my  surprise," 
he  said,  "  when  Mr.  Bancroft  assured  me,  that  our  man  at  the 
entrance  of  the  garden,  never  changed  any  of  his  plans  that  he 


256  PAUL  JONES. 

had  formed  for  me,  until  he  found  that  they  could  not  succeed 
Is  it  possible  that  he,  (Mr.  B.)  can  have  forgot,  that  he  himself 
asked  and  obtained  from  me  my  ideas  in  writing,  at  the  desire, 
as  he  told  me,  of  the  court,  in  Junctor  July,  1778  ?  He  ought 
now  to  be  sensible,  that  neither  our  man  nor  himself  at  that  time 
appeared  to  know  any  thing  about  marine  affairs.  You  may 
remember  what  I  showed  you  on  that  subject ;  but  that  our 
man  should  have  given  my  ideas  to  the  minister  as  his  own,  is 
contemptible,  and  shows  his  real  character.  I  have  often  re- 
pented that  I  consented  to  give  some  of  my  ideas  in  writing ; 
but  there  is  little  danger  that  they  will  run  away  with  the  glory 
from  me,  by  carrying  them  well  into  execution."  Who  "  our 
man"  was,  the  reader  has  a  right  to  guess  for  himself.  I  am 
unable  to  do  so* 

Jones  had  now  determined  to  go  to  Paris.     In  the  fragment 
of  a  letter  without  date,  ascertained  from  the  contents  to  have 
been  written  in  1792,  he  says  :  "  Though  my  crews  were  almost 
naked,  and  I  had  no  money  to  administer  to  their  wants,  yet 
my  constant  applications  to  court  for  two  months,  produced  no 
relief,  no  payment  whatever,  either  for  salary  or  prize  money. 
I  was  on  the  point  of  sailing  back  to  America  without  any  ap- 
pearance of  obtaining  justice ;  without  the  least  acknowledg- 
ment direct  or  indirect,  that  the  court  was  satisfied  with  my 
services  !  Under  these  circumstances,  in  a  moment  of  despair,  I 
came  to  court  to  demand  satisfaction."     The  want  of  such  an 
"  acknowledgment"  weighed    undoubtedly    much    more  with 
him  than  the  consideration  of  any  proportion  of  the  prize  money 
to  which  he  was  personally  entitled.    No  intelligent  person,  on  a 
review  of  his  life  and  correspondence,  (notwithstanding  that  his 
own*  inartificial  protestations  of  disinterestedness,  would,  in  or- 
dinary cases,  be  read  backwards,)  will  hesitate  to  believe,  that 
he  loved  the  voice  of  praise  and  breath  of  renown,  immeasura- 
bly beyond  "  all  Bokhara's  vaunted  gold."      But,  as  it  is  unphi- 
losophlcal  to  search   for  more  than    a  sufficient  cause  for  a 
common  event,  we  see  little  sense  in  the  speculations  of  Jones' 
biographers,  as  to  the  motives  which  led  him  to  repair  to  Ver- 


PAUL   JONES.  257 

sallies ;  and  are  content  to  take  the  word  of  Franklin  and  his 
own,  that  he  went  there  to  "  hasten  the  proceedings"  in  relation 
to  the  prize  money.  In  his  Journal  for  the  king,  he  says  that, 
in  consequence  of  the  clamours  among  the  officers  and  seamen, 
"  after  he  had  tried  every  thing  that  writing  to  Paris  could  do, 
without  effect,  he  by  the  advice  of  many  American  gentlemen, 
then  at  L'Orient,  went  himself  to  court  to  demand  that  the 
prizes  might  be  sold,  and  the  seamen  paid,  agreeably  to  the 
laws  and  usages  of  the  American  flag."  This  permission  was 
granted,  and  orders  given  to  expedite  the  business  of  making  out 
inventories,  advertising,  &c.  mentioned  by  Franklin. 

There  is  a  discrepancy  in  Jones'  accounts  of  this  period,  from 
a  want  of  dates,  and  from  some  being  general  and  others  in  detail. 
He  could  not  have  been  mistaken,  after  the  lapse  of  any  number 
of  years,  as  to  his  first  reception  by  the  minister.  In  the  frag- 
ment quoted  from,  written  in  1792,  which  is  unquestionably  in 
his  own  hand,  he  proceeds  to  say  :  "  The  minister  of  the  United 
States  accompanied  me  to  M.  de  Sartine,  who  gave  us  a  recep- 
tion as  cold  as  ice,  did  not  say  to  me  a  civil  word,  nor  even  ask 
me  if  my  health  had  not  suffered  from  my  wounds,  and  the  un- 
common fatigue  I  had  undergone.  The  public  did  me  more 
justice  than  the  minister,  and  I  owe  to  the  king  alone  the  flat- 
tering marks  of  distinction  with  which  I  was  honoured."  This 
first  impression  as  to  the  minister's  coldness  was  revived  and 
expressed  as  above,  in  a  moment  of  sickness  and  exaspera- 
tion, and  while  writing  angrily  to  another  dilatory  minister  of 
marine.  It  is  quoted  from  the  draft,  and  there  is  no  evidence 
that  a  copy  was  ever  sent.  Be  this  as  it  may,  he  said  nothing 
about  it  in  his  answers,  rendered  a  year  after  the  transaction, 
to  the  questions  by  the  board  of  admiralty.  We  quote  part  of 
the  30th  answer,  which  may  be  reconciled  with  the  other  state- 
ment, by  considering  that  it  was  unnecessary  and  impolitic  to 
dwell  minutely  on  the  polar  reception  first  given  to  him  by  M. 
de  la  Sartine,  when  a  reference  to  it  could  only  injure  the  public 
interest.  And  the  cause  of  that  frigidity  is  readily  found,  in  the 


32 


258  PAUL   JONES. 

manner  in  which  Jones  had  expressed  himself  in  relation  to  M. 
de  Chaumont.     To  proceed  to  the  answer  : 

"  M.  le  Ray  de  Chaumont  had  promised  from  day  to  day,  to 
remit  the  government  monies  to  L'Orient,  for  the  payment  of 
wages,  and  also  100,000  livres,  in  part  of  prize  money,  to  be 
divided  among  the  Americans  of  the  squadron,  then  on  board 
the  Alliance ;  but  at  last,  instead  of  complying  with  either,  he 
prevailed  on  the  minister  of  the  marine  to  order  the  Serapis  to 
be  valued  in  the  French  way,  for  account  of  the  king,  and  with- 
out giving  the  captors  any  satisfaction  whatever,  or  obtaining 
their  leave  or  consent,  the  workmen  in  the  port  began  to  rip  up 
the  orlop  deck,  and  all  the  interior  work  of  that  ship.  Messrs. 
Gourlade  and  Moylan  did  not  interfere  to  prevent  this.  Mr. 
Lee  took  much  pains  to  persuade  the  people  they  had  been 
sailing  with  me  in  a  privateer,  would  be  detained  in  Europe 
during  the  war,  and  get  nothing  at  last.  I  found  it  impossible 
to  reason  them  into  good  humour,  so  as  to  go  to  sea  ;  they  posi- 
tively declared  they  would  not  weigh  anchor  till  they  were  fully 
paid,  and  wrote  to  this  effect  to  Mr.  Franklin.  I  was  then 
greatly  disgusted  with  the  treatment  that,  in  appearance,  I  had 
met  with  from  M.  de  Sartine,  but  which  in  reality  did  not  prove 
to  be  his  fault,  but  that  of  M.  le  Ray  de  Chaumont.  But  as  I 
saw  no  way  of  overcoming  my  difficulties  by  remaining  at 
L'Orient,  I  with  the  advice  of  Mr.  Samuel  Wharton,  and  the 
majority  of  the  Americans  then  assembled  at  L'Orient,  waiting 
to  proceed  with  me  to  America,  went  up  to  court  to  demand  the" 
free  sale  of  our  prizes,  according  to  the  laws  of  the  American 
navy.  Mr.  Franklin  went  with  me  to  the  minister,  who,  con- 
trary to  my  expectation,  gave  me  the  most  friendly  welcome, 
and  sent  immediate  orders  to  publish  the  inventories,  and  ad- 
vertise the  sale  of  all  the  prizes.  Thre,  however,  took  up  more 
time  than  had  been  imagined." 

To  leave  this  dull  business  while  we  may  :  Jones  became  the 
temporary  lion  of  Paris ;  and  enjoyed  what  heroes  most  dearly 
love  from  the  principle  of  their  nature,  which  makes  them  such — 


PAUL   JONES.  259 

the  reality  of  fame — if  the  phrase  may  be  used  without  absurd- 
ity. For  every  age  produces  as  many  heroes  as  Byron  enu- 
merates in  his  misanthropic  introduction  to  an  unclean,  and 
luckily  for  morals,  an  unended  extravaganza;  and  mankind 
could  not  remember  them  all,  if  they  had  nothing  else  to  do  but  to 
repeat  the  starry  and  emblazoned  roll.  And  as  to  the  gifted 
vision  which  foresees  its  own  immortality,  few  are  so  poor  in 
judgment  as  not  to  know  that 

••  Both  bound  together  live  and  die, 
The  writing  aiid  the  prophecj." 

But  Jones  was  immediately  connected  with  events,  which, 
while  we  write  our  annals  truly,  must  identify  him  honourably 
with  the  history  of  the  world  ;  and  a  man  far  less  susceptible  of 
being  intoxicated  by  the  cry  of  the  million,  and  much  better 
taught  by  experience,  that  the  hominum  volitare  per  ora  is,  in 
truth,  only  a  volitation,  would  have  seen,  without  being  liable  to 
the  charge  of  vulgar  vanity,  in  the  honours  conferred  by  the 
court,  and  the  attentions  of  noblemen  and  noble  ladies,  the  first 
fruits  of  an  undying  reputation.  It  is  quaintly  said,  in  the 
biography  published  in  Edinburgh  that,  "the  reception  he  per- 
sonally met  from  many  individuals  among  the  higher  classes  of 
society  and  the  leaders  of  fashion,  when  Americans  and  repub- 
licanism were  the  infatuating  novelties  of  the  day,  must  have 
been  highly  gratifying  to  his  feelings,  and  to  his  insatiable  love 
of  distinction." 

This  strangely  "  infatuating  novelty"  upset  the  throne  of 
Charlemagne  and  all  his  successors.  While  I  write,  it 
threatens  to  hiss  off  the  stage  a  Bourbon  who  is  experimen- 
tally placed  on  it ;  it  has  disfranchised  a  hemisphere,  that  is, 
left  its  deliverance  to  be  effected,  whenever  enlightened  opinion 
shall  be  strong  enough  ;  has  partially  freed  even  Ireland ;  and 
in  the  good  providence  of  God,  whatever  ages  of  agony  and 
bloodshed  may  first  intervene,  all  mankind  will  one  day  learn,  that 
the  "  infatuating  novelty"  is  as  true  as  holy  writ,  that  by  proper 
education  a  people  can  govern  themselves  to  more  advantage, 


260  PAUL   JONES. 

than  by  superstitiously  believing  in  the  virtues  of  a  hereditary 
monarchy.  However,  when  hereditary  monarchies  are  esta- 
blished, such  impertinencies  as  that  above  quoted,  are  conve- 
nient and  pardonable ;  though  they  cannot  be  truly  said  to  be 
commendable. 

In  Jones'  Journal  for  the  king,  and  other  formal  narratives 
by  himself,  which  we  have  followed  to  preserve  chronology, 
there  is  of  course  no  methodical  account  of  the  successive  tokens 
of  distinction  which  he  received,  though  the  references  to  them 
in  his  subsequent  letters  are  frequent.  It  will  be  remembered 
that  he  was  in  correspondence  with  some  of  the  principal  actors 
of  the  day,  those  most  in  the  public  eye ;  and  that,  however, 
hard  it  may  be  to  pay  money  for  services  justly  rendered,  it  is 
both  easy  and  agreeable  to  pay  compliments.  It  was  also  natu- 
ral that  the  people  of  France,  who  had  heard  of  his  exploits, 
should  greet  him  as  they  did  at  theatres  and  in  public  places. 
The  court  and  the  community  jointly  and  severally  did  him 
homage,  and  ladies  smiled  upon  him.  Except,  however,  in  the 
correspondence  of  an  anonymous  fair  one,  named  Delia,  to  be 
mentioned  anon,  of  which  fragments  are  preserved,  there  is 
nothing  left,  in  print  or  manuscript,  which  is  authentic,  that  is 
injurious  to  the  fair  fame  of  any  lady,  whose  name  is  indicated 
by  its  initials  or  otherwise.  If  it  be  painful  to  destroy  romance, 
it  is  no  less  necessary  to  tell  the  truth ;  and  though  nobody  can 
doubt  that  Commodore  Jones  was  anxiously  and  courteously 
entertained  and  caressed  by  noble  and  fashionable  matrons,  all 
that  we  have  any  foundation  for  saying,  in  relation  to  the  mat- 
ter, is  best  stated  in  the  brief  biographical  notice  of  him  in  the 
Edinburgh  Encyclopedia :  "  He  spoke  several  of  the  European 
languages  ;  was  a  lover  of  music  and  poetry ;  played  on  different 
musical  instruments  ;  and  used  to  write  verses  for  the  amuse- 
ment of  the  Parisian  ladies."  These  remarks  would  be  out  of 
place,  were  it  not  that  so  much  has  been  idly  written  and  ima- 
gined in  relation  to  Jones'  gallantries.  The  fact  is,  though  it 
involves  a  speculation  for  which  we  have  no  time,  that  his  chi- 
valry was  of  the  higher  and  holier  order.  He  worshipped  virtu- 


PAUL   JONES.  261 

ous  women  in  the  chamber  of  his  imagination,  as  did  the  heroes 
and  knights  of  classic  and  romantic  poetry.  Of  his  common 
frailties  we  know  nothing,  nor  need  we  draw  them  from  their 
dread  abode.  However  this  may  be,  his  correspondence  with 
the  lady,  known  as  Delia,  began  about  this  time,  as  appears 
from  one  of  her  letters.  He  had  far  more  respectable  female 
acquaintances. 

Of  his  public  reception,  he  says  himself,  that  "  he  received 
at  Paris,  and  other  parts  of  the  kingdom,  the  most  flattering 
applause  and  public  approbation  wherever  he  appeared.  Both 
the  great  and  the  learned  sought  his  acquaintance  in  private 
life,  and  honoured  him  with  particular  marks  of  friendship.  At 
court,  he  was  always  received  with  a  kindness  which  could  only 
have  arisen  from  a  fixed  esteem." 

Whatever  were  his  honours  or  his  distractions,  during  this 
month  of  May,  Jones  did  not  neglect  improving  the  favourable 
terms  on  which  he  stood,  for  the  benefit  of  his  adopted  country. 
He  applied  to,  and  obtained  from  government,  to  follow  his 
Journal,  "  a  loan  of  the  Ariel  of  20  guns,  to  assist  the  Alliance 
to  transport  a  large  quantity  of  clothing,  &c.  to  America,  then 
ready  to  be  sent  for  the  army  under  the  command  of  General 
Washington.  He  had  already  embarked  on  board  the  Alliance 
the  cannon  he  had  provided  for  the  Bon  Homme  Richard,  but 
which  had  arrived  at  L'Orient  too  late  for  that  ship,  besides  a 
quantity  of  muskets  and  powder.  And  a  cartel  having  arrived 
with  American  prisoners  from  England,  had  enabled  him  to 
leave  behind  near  four  hundred  seamen  on  board  the  Alliance. 
So  that  he  could  have  spared  a  crew  for  the  Ariel  without  any 
expense  or  loss  of  time.  It  was  his  intention  to  arm  the  Ariel 
en  flute,  and  to  carry  a  considerable  part  of  the  clothing  in  the 
Alliance.  Finding  the  sales  of  the  prize  protracted  much  be- 
yond his  expectations,  he  endeavoured,  but  without  success,  to 
obtain  some  advance  for  his  officers  and  crew,  to  enable  them 
to  proceed  for  America  ;  and  the  latter  end  of  May,  took  leave 
of  their  majesties,  the  court,  and  his  friends  at  Paris."  The 
king  had  ordered  that  the  commodore  should  be  presented  with 


262  PAUL    JONES. 

a  gold  sword,  and  that  he  should,  with  the  permission  of  Con- 
gress, receive  the  cross  of  military  merit,  a  decoration  conferred 
previously  on  those  only  who  had  distinguished  themselves  in 
the  proper  service  of  France.  A  letter  from  Sartine  of  the  30th, 
announced  these  offers ;  declared  the  king's  perfect  satisfaction 
with  the  commodore's  actions,  and  disposition  to  receive  him 
again  with  pleasure,  should  he  be  sent  on  any  new  expedition 
to  Europe.  From  Franklin  also  he  had  an  honourable  testimo- 
nial of  his  "  bravery  and  conduct,"  solicited  by  himself,  though, 
as  the  ambassador  remarked,  "his  actions  were  more  effectual 
recommendations,  and  rendered  any  from  him  unnecessary." 
According  to  Mr.  Sherburne's  dates,  the  consent  of  the  king  to 
allow  one  of  his  vessels  to  accompany  the  Alliance,  was  not 
formally  given  until  the  30th  of  June.  This  must  be  an  error. 
On  the  first  of  that  month,  Jones  received  directions  from  Frank- 
lin to  carry  into  effect  the  resolution  of  the  admiralty  board, 
requiring  the  return  of  that  vessel,  with  all  due  expedition  ;  and 
on  the  4th,  W.  Franklin  enclosed  him  a  copy  of  a  letter  from 
Mt  de  Sartine,  which  stated  that  the  commissary  and  comman- 
dant at  L'Orienthad  orders  from  the  minister,  to  render  every 
assistance  in  their  power  to  facilitate  his  departure. 

But  there  was  a  fatality  attending  the  departures  of  Jones 
from  port ;  and  it  seems  as  if  procrastination,  irritation,  and 
the  tension  of  patience  were  ordained  to  give  velocity  and  ener- 
gy to  his  career,  when  he  was  at  last  afloat  on  the  free  ocean 
en  large.  That  "  singularly  wild"  and  disagreeable  chevalier 
Landais,  had  been  at  L' Orient  during  Jones'  absence,  and  with 
the  help  of  mischievous  prompters  and  counsellors,  aided  by  the 
discontent  which  prevailed  among  the  officers  on  account  of  not 
receiving  prize  money  or  pay,  had  resolved  to  retain  the  com- 
mand of  the  Alliance.  Had  not  this  happened,  Jones  says, 
"  every  thing  was  prepared,  and,  the  Ariel  being  copper  bot- 
tomed, he  would  have  sailed  for  America  a  week  after  h*s 
return  from  Paris." 

On  the  12th  of  April  previous,  the  officers  of  the  Alliance  had 
addressed  Franklin,  informing  him  of  their  necessitous  circum- 


PAUL   JONES.  263 

stances,  and  that  they  were  alarmed  at  receiving  neither  wages 
nor  prize  money,  when  the  ship  was  so  nearly  prepared  for  sea. 
In  his  reply  of  the  7th  of  June,  he  told  them  that,  having  nothing 
to  do  with  the  prizes,  he  had  advanced  the  24,000  livres  before 
spoken  of,  for  their  immediate  wants  ;  and  that  as  to  wages,  he 
thought  they  should  be  expected  at  home.  He  told  them,  that 
in  consequence  of  being  frequently  informed  from  L'Orient, 
that  the  proposed  method  of  valuing  the  prizes  excited  discon- 
tent, he  had  procured  a  consent  that  they  should  be  sold  at  pub- 
lic auction ;  which  necessarily  required  time,  unless  they  were 
to  he  sacrificed.  He  thought  the  method  first  proposed  would 
have  been  most  beneficial  to  them.  In  answer  to  their  inquiry, 
whether  nothing  had  been  received  from  the  prizes  sent  to  Nor- 
way, he  told  them,  that  he  had  sent  a  memorial  to  the  Danish 
court,  with  the  reply  to  which  he  was  not  satisfied ;  that  the 
matter  was  before  Congress ;  and  should  any  thing  be  recovered, 
strict  justice  should  be  done  them.  He  expressed  his  surprise 
that,  after  the  complaints  he  had  received  from  them  a  year  pre- 
vious against  Landais,  and  the  statement  of  the  latter  at  that 
time,  that  they  were  all  joined  together  against  him,  he,  who 
had  been  at  Paris  merely,  as  he  professed,  to  vindicate  himself 
and  obtain  an  order  for  his  own  property  on  board  of  the  Al- 
liance, should  desire  to  resume  the  command,  and  that  they 
should  again  wish  to  sail  under  him.  He  said,  "  I  have  related 
exactly  to  Congress  the  manner  of  his  leaving  the  ship,  and 
though  I  declined  any  judgment  of  his  mano3uvres  in  the  fight, 
I  have  given  it  as  my  opinion,  (to  Congress,)  after  examining 
the  affair,  that  it  was  not  at  all  likely,  either  that  he  should  have 
given  orders  to  fire  into  the  Bon  Homme  Richard,  or  that  his 
officers  would  have  obeyed  such  an  order  had  it  been  given  them. 
Thus  I  have  taken  what  care  I  could  of  your  honour  in  that 
particular.  You  will,  therefore,  excuse  me  if  I  am  a  little  con- 
cerned for  it  in  another.  If  it  should  come  to  be  publicly  known 
that  you  had  the  strongest  aversion  to  Captain  Landais,  who 
had  used  you  basely,  and  that  it  is  only  since  the  last  year's 
cruise,  and  the  appointment  of  Commodore  Jones  to  the  com- 


264  PAUL   JONES. 

inand,  that  you  request  to  be  again  under  your  old  captain,  1 
fear  suspicions  and  reflections  may  be  thrown  upon  you  by  the 
world,  as  if  this  change  of  sentiment  may  have  arisen  from  your 
observation  during  the  cruise,  that  Captain  Jones  loved  close 
lighting,  that  Captain  Landais  was  skilful  in  keeping  out  of 
harm's  way,  and  that  you  therefore  thought  yourselves  safer  with 
the  latter.  For  myself,  I  believe  you  to  be  brave  men,  and 
lovers  of  your  country  and  its  glorious  cause ;  and  I  am  per- 
suaded you  have  only  been  ill  advised,  and  misled  by  the  artful 
and  malicious  misrepresentations  of  some  persons  I  guess  at. 
Take  in  good  part  this  friendly  counsel  from  an  old  man  who  is 
your  friend.  Go  home  peaceably  with  your  ship.  Do  your 
duty  faithfully  and  cheerfully.  Behave  respectfully  to  your 
commander,  and  I  am  persuaded  he  will  do  the  same  to  you. 
Thus  you  will  not  only  be  happier  in  your  voyage,  but  recom- 
mend yourselves  to  the  future  favours  of  Congress  and  of  your 
country." 

On  the  same  day,  he  wrote  peremptorily  to  Landais,  express- 
ing his  astonishment  that  the  latter  should  be  at  L'Orient, 
when  he  had  thought  him  long  before  on  his  voyage  to  Ame- 
rica for  trial ;  to  enable  him  to  do  which,  he  had  been  furnished 
with  a  considerable  sum  of  money.*  Landais  had  coolly  writ- 
ten on  the  29th  May,  that  "  he  had  been  waiting  for  Franklin's 
orders  ever  since,  to  retake  the  command  of  the  Alliance!" 
The  minister  said  :  "  I  waive  any  further  dispute  with  you  ; 
but  I  charge  you  not  to  meddle  with  the  command,  or  create 
any  disturbance  on  board  her,  as  you  will  answer  the  contrary 
at  your  peril."  But  Landais  had  got  an  opinion  from  Mr.  Ar- 
thur Lee,  who  had  a  taste  for  "  constitutional  construction," 
that  he  might  treat  the  minister's  orders  with  silent  contempt, 
or,  in  the  slang  of  the  present  day,  nullify  them.  The  majo- 
rity of  the  officers  and  crew  had  also  been  too  well  deluded 


*  Landais  had  actually  made  a  written  application  to  Captain  Bell  for  a  passage  in 
the  merchant  ship  Luzerne,  that  he  might  return  quickly  to  America  for  trial. — Jour- 
nal for  the  King 


PAUL    JONES.  265 

during  the  absence  of  their  commander,  by  representations 
that  he  was  neglecting  or  compounding  their  rights  at  court, 
while  he  was  enjoying  all  the  honours  of  their  victory.  Jones 
said,  himself,  at  the  time  :  "  I  have  been  to  blame  for  having 
returned  to  Paris,  without  having  absolutely  insisted  on  the 
previous  payment  of  my  men."  He  would  have  insisted  to  no 
purpose.  The  change  in  the  mode  of  assessing  the  value  of 
the  prizes,  left  the  court  not  responsible  immediately ;  and  M. 
Chaumont  was  unable  to  pay  in  anticipation  of  their  sale. 

The  sailors  became  peremptory  in  their  demands.  On  the 
12th  June,  we  find  Franklin  writing  to  Jones  :  "  Saturday 
morning  I  received  a  letter  signed  by  about  115  of  the  sailors 
of  the  Alliance,  declaring  that  they  would  not  raise  the  anchor, 
nor  depart  from  L'Orient,  till  they  had  six  months'  wages  paid 
them,  and  the  utmost  farthing  of  the  prize  money,  including 
the  ships  sent  into  Norway,  and  until  their  legal  captain,  P.  Lan- 
dais,  was  restored  to  them.  This  mutiny  <has  undoubtedly  been 
excited  by  that  captain  ;  probably  by  making  them  believe  that 
satisfaction  has  been  received  for  those  Norway  prizes  delivered 
up  to  the  English.  *  *  *  *  That  he  is  concerned  in  this 
mutiny  he  ha«*  been  foolish  enough  to  furnish  us  with  proofs ; 
the  sailors'  Ictier  being  not  only  enclosed  under  a  cover  directed 
to  me  in  his  handwriting,  but  he  also,  in  the  same  writing, 
interlined  the  words,  their  legal  captain,  P.  Landais,  which 
happens  to  contain  his  signature.  I  immediately  went  to  Ver- 
sailles to  demand  the  assistance  of  government,  and  on  show- 
ing the  letter,  by  which  his  guilt  plainly  appeared,  an  order  was 
immediately  granted,  and  sent  away  the  same  evening,  for  appre- 
hending and  imprisoning  him,  and  orders  were  promised  to  be 
given  at  the  same  time  to  the  commissary  of  the  port  to  afford 
you  all  kind  of  assistance  to  facilitate  your  departure.  M.  Chau- 
mont being  with  me,  and  assisting  warmly  in  obtaining  these 
orders.  We  thought  it  best  at  the  same  time,  to  give  directions 
that  those  sailors  who  have  signed  this  letter  should  not  be 
favoured  with  receiving  any  part  of  the  money  ordered  to  be 
advanced,  in  part  of  what  it  is  supposed  the  Serapis  and  Coun- 

33 


266  PAUL   JONES. 

tess  may  be  sold  for,  unless  such  as  express  their  sorrow  fo 
having  been  so  misled,  and  willingness  to  do  their  duty.  And 
that  they  may  be  known,  their  title  was  sent  down  to  M.  de 
Marplanir.  But  care  should  be  taken  that  it  be  returned,  as  it 
contains  the  proofs  above  mentioned  against  Landais,  who  will 
probably  be  tried  for  his  life  ;  being  considered  by  the  minister 
as  an  emigrant  without  the  king's  permission,  and  therefore 
still  a  Frenchman,  and  when  in  France,  still  subject  to  its  laws." 

All  of  this  letter  ought  to  be  inserted,  did  space  permit.  We 
can  only  add  that  Franklin  recommended,  in  case  difficulties 
should  arise  to  prevent  the  produce  of  the  sales  being  known, 
and  part  advanced,  before  Jones  was  ready  to  sail  with  the  Ariel 
in  company,  those  who  would  not  trust  to  their  country  for  jus- 
tice should  be  put  on  shore,  and  left  to  wait  at  their  own  expense. 
He  concluded  :  "  You  are  likely  to  have  great  trouble.  I  wish 
you  well  through  it.  You  have  shown  your  abilities  in  fight- 
ing ;  you  have  now  an  opportunity  of  showing  the  other  neces- 
sary part  in  the  character  of  a  great  chief — your  abilities  in 
policy." 

Up  to  this  period,  whatever  might  have  been  done  in  secret 
cabal,  no  open  disrespect  had  been  shown  to  Jones.  He 
states*  that  he  had  been  on  board  of  the  Alliance  for  a  consi- 
derable part  of  the  time  after  his  return  from  Versailles,  and 
"  had  always  been  well  received  and  duly  obeyed."  But  finding 
that  "  his  commission  and  authority  had  been  called  in  ques 
tion,"  he  ordered  the  former  as  well  as  Franklin's  orders  to  be 
read  on  board,  on  the  morning  of  the  12th  June,  for  the  satis- 
faction of  all  present.  What  amounted  to  a  mutiny  occurred 
in  consequence.  The  fact  is,  there  can  be  no  doubt,  that  while 
bent  on  doing  his  duty,  Jones  had  not  had  his  imagination  free 
from  the  effects  of  the  public  honours  he  had  received  at  Paris  ; 
and  that  it  was  not  in  his  nature  to  pry  into  the  views  and 
schemes  of  those  whom  circumstances  made  his  inferiors.  His 


*  In  a  letter  to  Franklin  of  June  13th,  the  day  after  the  mutiny. 


PAUL    IOM.S  ^  267 

thoughts  or  dreams,  if  that  be  the  better  phrase,  abt  ut  his  own 
renown,  did  not  interfere  with  his  strenuous  efforts  to  sustain 
and  increase  it,  but  on  the  contrary  concentrated  those  efforts. 
A  man  of  more  common  mind  might  have  sought  after  and 
eagerly  listened  to  reports  of  what  was  going  on  in  the  kitchen, 
and  counteracted  vulgar  intrigue  by  conciliation.  However 
this  may  be,  he  was  mistaken  as  to  the  influence  which  was 
predominant  on  board.  On  the  morning  of  the  13th  of  June, 
he  went  on  shore  to  make  arrangements  with  the  commandant 
for  despatching  the  Ariel,  and  Landais  went  on  board,  declaring 
that  he  came  to  take  command  of  the  ship,  and  would  support 
himself  by  force  against  any  person  who  should  dispute  his  au- 
thority. He  had  written  to  Lieutenant  Degge,  as  lieutenant  in 
command  on  board  the  frigate  Alliance,  ordering  him  to  keep 
the  command  of  the  frigate  from  any  one  who  should  seek  to 
take  it,  contrary  to  the  resolve  of  Congress,  and  to  his  prejudice, 
until  he  should  receive  an  answer  from  his  excellency  Dr. 
Franklin,  on  the  reception  of  which  he  would  take  the  com- 
mand. He  added  :  "  I  expect  Dr.  Franklin  can't  deny  it  to  me, 
unless  he  has  an  order  to  the  contrary  from  Congress."  This 
letter  had  been  dictated  by  some  of  the  "  meddling  passengers," 
and  was  read  to  the  crew  by  Lieutenant  Degge. 

Finding  that  Landais  had  taken  possession,  by  the  advice  of 
the  commandant  of  the  marine  and  commandant  of  the  road, 
Jones  wrote  to  Franklin  by  express,  on  the  afternoon  of  the  day 
on  which  what  may  be  called  the  mutiny  occurred.  He  said  : 
"  Several  of  the  brave  officers  who  served  with  me  in  the  Bon 
Homme  Richard,  have  already  been  treated  with  indignity  on 
board  ;  and  my  first  lieutenant,  Mr.  Dale,  this  moment  tells  me, 
that  he  and  some  others  have  been  turned  ashore.  Before  I 
came  ashore  this  forenoon,  the  crew  being  assembled,  I  de- 
manded whether  any  of  them  could  say  a  word  to  my  disad- 
vantage ?  They  answered,  they  could  not.  There  was  then 
every  appearance  of  general  contentment  and  subordination. 
I  am  certain  that  the  people  love  and  would  readily  obey  me." 
He  was  obeying  Franklin's  last  verbal  instructions,  to  act  in  con- 


268  PAUL   JONES. 

cert  with  the  commandants  above  mentioned.  He  was  nearly 
ready  to  sail  with  both  vessels,  with  the  arms  and  clothing  pro- 
perly bestowed ;  and  there  is  not  much  doubt  that  the  crews 
would  readily  have  sailed  with  him,  had  the  malign  influence 
been  removed,  which  so  balefully  governed  them.  Let  us  hear 
a  screed  of  doctrine  about  constitutional  construction  and  nulli- 
fication, delivered  in  anticipation,  and  which  will  hold  water 
rather  better  than  others  we  have  had,  since  we  have  had  a  con- 
stitution. The  special  pleading  is  good;  and  must  have 
refreshed  the  souls  of  the  ragged  mutineers  particularly.  Mr. 
Arthur  Lee  thus  wrote  to  Jones,  on  the  13th. 

"  SIR, 

"When  you  showed  me  yesterday ,  the  authorities  underwhich 
you  conceive  you  had  a  right  to  command  the  Alliance  frigate, 
I  told  you  it  was  not  in  my  power  to  give  you  an  opinion  upon 
them  without  seeing  those  of  Captain  Landais  ;  and  that  I 
would  not  give  an  opinion  in  this  matter,  but  in  writing.  Since 
that  I  have  seen  the  authorities  of  Captain  Landais,  and  I  now 
shall  state  them  both,  with  my  opinion  upon  them  ;  which  I 
hope  may  be  of  use  in  preventing  any  further  contest,  which 
cannot  but  be  disgraceful  and  injurious  to  the  service,  as  well 
as  to  those  who  are  in  the  wrong. 

"  The  authorities  you  showed  me,  consisted  of  a  commission 
from  Congress,  appointing  you  a  captain  in  the  marine  of  the 
United  States,  and  a  late  order  from  Dr.  Franklin  to  you  to 
take  command  of  the  Alliance,  and  carry  her  where  she  is 
ordered  by  the  admiralty.  This  order  from  Dr.  Franklin  does 
not  recite  or  allege  any  power  from  Congress  to  take  the  com- 
mand from  Captain  Landais,  and  put  another  in  his  place. 

"  The  authorities  Captain  Landais  laid  before  me,  were  a 
commission  from  Congress,  like  yours,  appointing  him  captain 
in  the  service  ;  a  resolve  of  Congress  giving  him  the  command 
of  the  Alliance  frigate ;  and  a  letter  of  instructions  for  that 
purpose  from  the  marine  committee. 

"  From  these  document;  it  is  clear,  beyond  a  possibility  of 


PAUL    JOKES.  2#9 

doubt,  that  Captain  Landais  commands  that  ship  under  the  full, 
direct,  and  express  order  of  Congress  ;  and  that  no  such  autho- 
rity appears  to  dismiss  him  from  the  command.  In  this  situa- 
tion, Captain  Landais  must  answer  at  his  peril  for  the  frigate 
entrusted  to  him  till  he  receives  an  order  of  Congress  to  deliver 
her  to  another.  If  any  such  order  exists,  those  who  have  it  do 
infinite  wrong  to  the  service  in  not  producing  it,  to  prevent  any 
disturbance.  If  there  is  no  such  order,  the  subjects  of  the 
United  States  who  attempt  to  divest  Captain  Landais  of  the 
command  he  holds  from  the  sovereign  power,  or  to  disturb  him 
by  violence  in  the  exercise  of  it,  commit  a  high  crime  against 
the  laws  and  sovereignty  of  the  United  States  and  subject  them- 
selves to  a  proportionable  punishment. 

"  This,  sir,  is  my  opinion,  founded  upon  a  cool  and  candid 
consideration  of  the  authorities  on  both  sides ;  which  alone 
ought  to  determine  our  judgment  and  our  actions.  You  are  at 
liberty  to  show  this  letter  to  whom  you  please,  or  to  send  it  to 
Dr.  Franklin.  Should  it  prevail  upon  you  to  urge  this  matter 
no  farther  till  you  know  whether  there  is  authority  of  Congress 
for  what  you  are  doing,  I  shall  think  I  have  rendered  no  less 
service  to  you  personally,  in  preventing  you  from  committing  a 
rash  and  illegal  action,  than  to  the  public,  the  honour  of  which 
must  be  committed  by  such  a  contest  in  a  foreign  port.  When 
I  see  such  things  threatened,  my  duty  to  my  country,  and  the 
love  of  law  and  order,  call  upon  me  to  do  whatever  is  in  my 
power  to  prevent  them. 

"  I  have  the  honour  to  be,  &c. 

This  valuable  opinion  of  Mr.  Lee  did  not  come  into  Jones' 
hands  until  a  week  after  his  date.  The  latter,  in  his  letter  to 
the  commandant  of  the  port,  called  on  him  for  support,  as  he 
had  not  sufficient  force  to  assert  his  own  rights,  and  did  not 
wish  to  have  a  scene  with  Landais.  The  letter  was  probably 
more  for  form's  sake  than  otherwise  ;  for  an  open  affray  would 
have  been  discreditable  to  the  American  flag,  and  injurious  to 
the  character  of  the  nation.  Jones  went  incognito,  as  he  says 


PAUL  JONES. 

in  his  journal,  to  Versailles,  "  to  explain  what  had  happened," 
and  returned  with  all  possible  expedition.  On  the  16th,  we  find 
Franklin  very  briefly  and  peremptorily  writing  to  Landais  and 
to  the  officers  of  the  Alliance,  commanding  obedience  to  his 
former  and  present  orders.  On  the  17th,  he  wrote  to  Jones,  who 
was  then  on  his  way  to  court,  that  "  having  been  informed  by 
several  gentleman,  of  and  from  L'Orient,  that  it  was  there 
generally  understood,  that  the  mutiny  on  board  his  ship  had 
been  advised  or  promoted  by  the  Honourable  Arthur  Lee, 
whom  he  had  ordered  Jones  to  receive  as  a  passenger,  he 
thereby  withdrew  that  order  so  far  as  to  leave  it  to  Jones' 
discretion."  He  added,  that  this  need  not  obstruct  Mr.  Lee's 
return  to  America,  as  there  were  several  ships  going  under 
Jones'  convoy,  and  many  of  the  passengers  might  prefer  chang- 
ing places.  Cotemporaneously,  for  I  do  not  find  the  dates, 
fourteen  of  the  officers  of  the  Alliance  addressed  Franklin,  re- 
presenting that  they  believed  the  ship's  crew  were  unanimously 
in  favour  of  Captain  Landais,  and  that  they  believed  him  a 
capable  officer,  whose  conduct  in  the  engagement  off  Scar- 
borough had  been  misrepresented ;  and  that  they  thought  them- 
selves bound  to  obey  him,  according  to  the  rules  and  regulations 
of  the  navy.  The  wise  opinion  of  Mr.  Lee  and  those  deluded 
men,  is  best  exposed  by  the  questions  put  at  the  time  by  Dr. 
Franklin  to  Mr.  Adams,  which  involve  their  own  inevitable 
answers.  They  were,  in  brief,  whether  Landais,  accused  of 
capital  crimes  by  his  commanding  officer,  after  having  relin- 
quished command  of  the  frigate,  asked  leave  to  withdraw  his 
effects,  solicited  and  received  money  from  the  minister  to  bear 
his  expenses  to  America,  where  he  was  to  be  tried,  and  applied 
for  a  passage  in  a  private  ship,  was  entitled  at  his  pleasure  to 


PAUL   JONES.  271 

retake  command  of  the  frigate,  contrary  to  the  express  orders 
of  the  same  minister,  which  he  was  instructed  to  obey  ;  "  and  to 
dispossess  his  successor,  the  oldest  naval  officer  of  the  United 
States  in  Europe,  who  had  commanded  that  frigate  near  eight 
months,  and  brought  to  the  port  where  she  then  was  ?"  The 
other  questions,  equally  irresistible,  related  to  the  propriety  of 
the  conduct  of  Landais,  and  the  policy  of  suffering  him  to  retain 
the  command. 

Landais,  however,  and  his  constitutional  advisers,  got  off,  by 
a  forbearance  on  the  part  of  Jones,  dictated  by  wise  and  pruden- 
tial considerations,  at  a  moment  when  indignation  might  have 
thrown  the  reins  loose  without  reproach.  Orders  from  govern- 
ment were  sent  to  L'Orient,  to  arrest  Landais  as  a  French 
subject,  (and  he  might  have  been  most  unconstitutionally  pro- 
vided for,)  and  to  stop  the  Alliance.  Jones'  letter  written  after 
his  return  from  Versailles,  best  explains  the  intermediate  trans- 
actions, and  the  motives  of  his  conduct. 

"  U  Orient,  June  21,  1780. 
"  SIR, 

"  I  was  detained  at  Versailles  forty  hours  from  the  time  of 
my  arrival,  and  was  then  informed  by  M.  de  Genet,  that  an  ex- 
press had  been  sent  from  court  with  the  necessary  orders  to  the 
king's  officers  at  L'Orient,  respecting  Captain  Landais  and  the 
Alliance.  I  found  myself  here  early  yesterday  morning,  fifty- 
four  hours  after  leaving  Versailles.  The  Alliance  had,  the 
evening  and  night  before,  been  warped  and  towed  from  the 
road  of  L'Orient  to  Port  Louis  ;  and  no  express  from  court  had 
arrived  here.  M.  de  Thevenard,  the  commandant,  however 
made  every  necessary  preparation  to  stop  the  Alliance,  as  ap 
pears  by  the  enclosed  document  on  the  subject.  He  had  even 
sent  orders  in  the  evening,  before  I  was  aware,  to  fire  on  the 
Alliance,  and  sink  her  to  the  bottom,  if  they  attempted  to  ap- 
proach and  pass  the  barrier  that  had  been  made  across  the 
entrance  of  the  port.  Had  I  even  remained  silent  an  hour 
longer,  the  dreadful  work  would  have  been  done.  Your 


272  PAUL  JONES. 

humanity  will,  I  know,  justify  the  part  I  acted  in  preventing  a 
scene  that  would  have  rendered  me  miserable  for  the  rest  of 
my  life.  The  Alliance  has  this  morning  been  towed  and 
warped  through  the  rocks,  and  is  now  at  anchor  without,  be- 
tween Port  Louis  and  Groix.  In  this  situation  I  at  noon  sent 
out  Lieutenant  Dale  with  a  letter  to  Captain  Landais,  whereof 
the  within  is  a  copy. 

"  Yesterday  morning  the  within  letter  was  brought  me  from 
Mr.  Lee,  though  I  had  never  even  hinted  that  his  opinion  or 
advice  would  be  acceptable.  He  has,  however,  pulled  off  the 
mask,  and  I  am  convinced,  is  not  a  little  disappointed  that  his 
operations  have  produced  no  bloodshed  between  the  subjects  of 
France  and  America.  Poor  man  ! 

"  Yesterday  every  thing  that  persuasion  or  threatening  could 
effect  was  attempted.  [He  mentions  a  conciliatory  letter  sent 
to  Captain  Parke,  of  the  marines,  to  which  no  answer  was  ever 
received.] 

"  M.  de  Thevenard,  on  his  part,  sent  the  deputy  of  M.  Sweig- 
hauser  on  board  with  your  letters,  under  his  own  cover,  to  Cap- 
tain Landais,  and  to  the  officers  and  men  of  the  Alliance.  The 
one  was  delivered  to  Captain  Landais,  the  other  to  Lieutenant 
Digges.  M.  de  Thevenard  also  sent  on  board  an  officer  with 
the  king's  order  to  arrest  Captain  Landais,  who  refused  to  sur- 
render himself.  Mr.  Lee  and  his  party  pretend  to  justify  their 
measures,  because  they  say  you  did  not  put  Captain  Landais 
under  arrest.  According  to  them,  you  cannot  displace  him, 
however  great  his  crimes  !  If  the  government  does  not  interfere 
to  crush  this  despicable  party,  France  and  America  have  much 
to  fear  from  it.  I  verily  believe  them  to  be  English  at  the  bot- 
tom of  their  hearts.* 

"  N.  B.  Mr.  Dale  has  this  moment  brought  me,  the  within 
impertinent  note  from  Captain  Landais." 

___        .         . 

*  In  a  marginal  note,  affixed  to  this  letter,  many  years  afterwards,  Jones  says,  "  In 
this  opinion  I  was  not  singular,  though  perhaps  I  was  mistaken." 


PAUL   JONES.  273 

The  letter  to  Landais,  referred  to  in  the  foregoing,  was  a  de- 
mand of  the  seamen  who  had  served  on  board  the  Bon  Homme 
Richard,  requesting  that  they  might  be  delivered  on  board  the 
boats  sent  by  the  commandant  and  commissary  of  the  marine, 
with  the  baggage,  stores,  and  barge  of  Jones.  The  imperti- 
nent reply  I  do  not  find. 

Except  under  the  immediate  influence  of  the  instinct,  which 
teaches  us  to  avoid  sudden  danger  or  death,  and  not  always 
then,  there  is  no  such  thing  as  singleness  of  motive  in  our  na- 
ture. It  is  not  untrue,  that  the  best  men  may  find  something  in 
the  misfortunes  of  their  best  friends,  to  console  them  partially  for 
the  event.  Jones  would  have  taken  command  of  the  Alliance, 
and  set  sail  with  her  at  all  hazards,  if  a  disgraceful  scene  could 
have  been  avoided ;  or  if  he  could  have  enforced  obedience  on 
board.  As  it  was,  we  find  him  very  coolly  and  persuasively 
urging  upon  Franklin  by  the  next  post,  (June  23d,)  the  advan- 
tage which  would  result  from  asking  government  for  a  loan  of 
the  Serapis.  He  had  learned  that  this  ship  had  been  sold  for 
240,000  livres.  Five  or  six  hundred  tons  weight  of  public  stores 
were  to  be  transported  to  America ;  and  after  filling  up  the 
Ariel,  four  hundred  would  remain.  M.  Chaumont,  (owing  to 
the  concordat,)  had  altogether  miscalculated,  and  was  unac- 
quainted with  marine  affairs.  The  Serapis  would  be  masted 
and  fitted  in  a  very  short  time ;  and  no  suitable  merchant  ship 
could  be  had  at  any  of  the  ports.  He  proposed,  therefore,  to 
arm  her,  en  flute,  and  the  Ariel  for  war.  Three  hundred  men 
would  be  sufficient  for  both  ships,  whom  he  thought  there  would 
be  no  difficulty  in  obtaining  from  those  on  shore,  on  board  of  the 
Alliance,  and  volunteer  soldiers,  waiting  at  their  own  expense, 
to  serve  again  under  his  command.  On  arriving  in  America, 
the  Serapis  might  be  fully  armed,  and,  with  the  Ariel  and  other 

continental  ships,  execute  one  of  the  projects  he  had  submitted 

to  government. 

Will  it  be  wondered  at,  that  the  conqueror  of  the  Serapis, 

who  had,  as  it  may  be  said,  allowed  that  fine  ship  to  be  taken 

from  under  him,  to  preserve  the  credit  of  the  flag  to  which  she 

34 


274  PAUL   JONES. 

struck,  and  who  now  saw  her  near  him,  liable  to  pass  into  un- 
tineal  hands,  while  many  of  the  brave  crew  who  had  captured 
her,  were  also  on  the  spot,  anxious  to  serve  under  him  again, 
should  cast  a  longing,  lingering,  look  upon  her  ?  Or  is  it  sur- 
prising, that  his  heart  was  not  broken,  because  the  crazy  Lan- 
dais  had  usurped  command  of  a  discontented  crew,  misled 
and  prejudiced  as  they  were,  and  encouraged  to  open  revolt 
by  a  semi-official,  pragmatical  foe  of  Franklin,  and  expounder 
of  unasked  for  "opinions?"  The  reader  will  think  not;  and 
when  he  considers  that  Jones  was  panting  always  for  action, 
will  not  marvel  that  he  did  not  over-much  regret  the  expediency 
of  resigning  such  a  charge  as  that  of  conducting  the  Alliance 
home. 

Landais,  among  his  other  "  light  amusements,"  had  had  the 
solemn  impudence  to  write  several  letters,  demanding  payment 
of  the  prize  money  due  to  the  people  of  the  Alliance,  and  com- 
plained, on  the  16th,  "  that  time  was  lost  by  the  delay."  In 
the  letter  Franklin  condescended  to  write  to  him  on  the  24th, 
he  informed  him  that  his  two  first  prizes  were  Swedish  ships, 
for  the  illegal  capture  of  which  heavy  damages  were  demanded ; 
that  another  was  a  brigantine  from  Ireland,  under  the  king's 
passport,  which  he  apprehended  had  been,  or  would  be,  adjudged 
not  a  good  prize  ;  that  nothing  had  been  received  for  the  prizes 
sent  into  Norway ;  and  that,  as  the  Serapis  and  Countess  of 
Scarborough  had  not  been  sold  at  the  date  of  his  last  letter, 
none  of  the  produce  of  such  sale  could  be  in  his  hands,  or  in  the 
hands  of  any  body.  He  told  him,  he  was  aware  that  his  letters 
were  written  with  the  view  of  their  being  read  in  America  ;  and 
we  may  guess  who  dictated  them. 

The  former  officers  of  the  Bon  Homme  Richard,  at  the  same 
time,  (June  26th,)  solemnly  besought  Franklin  not  to  entertain 
the  idea,  that  the  Americans  at  L'Orient  approved  of  the  be- 
haviour of  Landais  and  his  advisers ;  and  stated,  that  beside 
the  risk  of  ruining  the  measures  adopted  for  the  transportation 
of  clothing,  <fec.  merchandise  to  the  amount  of  two  millions  of 
livres.  which  was  to  have  been  despatched  under  convoy,  was 


PAUL   JONES.  275 

put  in  peril  by  the  usurpation  of  Landais.  They  paid  a  most 
exalted  tribute  to  Jonos,  in  expressing  the  confidence  they  would 
have  felt,  had  he  commanded  according  to  the  regular  instruc- 
tions of  the  minister. 

On  the  27th,  Franklin  wrote  to  Jones,  in  reply  to  his  letter 
of  the  23d,  suggesting  that  a  loan  of  the  Serapis  might  be  asked 
for.  He  had  not  received  that  of  the  21st,  giving  an  account 
of  thfe  particular  circumstances  under  which  the  Alliance  left 
port.  "  I  only  knew,"  he  said,  "  by  other  means,  that  the  Al- 
liance is  gone  out  of  the  port ;  and  that  you  are  not  likely  to  reco- 
ver, and  have  relinquished  the  command  of  her.  So  that  affair 
is  over  ;  and  the  business  is  now,  to  get  the  goods  out  us  well  as 
we  can.  I  am  perfectly  bewildered  with  the  different  schemes 
1  hat  have  been  proposed  to  me  for  this  purpose,  by  Mr.  Williams, 
Mr.  Ross,  yourself,  and  M.  de  Chaumont.  Mr.  Williams  was  for 
purchasingships ;  I  told  him  I  had  not  the  money,  but  he  still  urges 
it.  You  and  Mr.  Ross  proposed  borrowing  the  Ariel ;  I  joined  in 
the  application  for  that  ship.  We  obtained  her.  She  was  to  con- 
vey all  that  the  Alliance  could  not  take.  Now  you  find  her  insuf- 
ficient. An  additional  ship  has  already  been  asked,  and  could  not 
be  obtained.  I  think,  therefore,  it  will  be  best  that  you  take  as 
much  into  the  Ariel  as  you  can,  and  depart  with  it.  For  the 
rest  I  must  apply  to  the  government  to  contrive  some  means  of 
transporting  it  in  their  own  ships.  This  is  my  present  opinion  ; 
and  when  I  have  once  got  rid  of  this  business,  no  consideration 
shall  tempt  me  to  meddle  again  with  such  matters,  as  I  never 
understood  them." 

Thus,  treating  the  "  affair  as  over,"  the  minister  wrote  to  the 
commanding  officer,  for  the  time  being,  of  the  Alliance,  to  take 
on  board  such  munitions  of  war,  as  were  ready  to  be  delivered, 
and  to  deliver  them  at  Philadelphia  to  the  board  of  admiralty. 
The  course  we  have  taken  requires  here  the  insertion  entire  of 
Jones'  letter  to  the  Hon.  Robert  Morris,  of  the  same  date,  in- 
volving a  little  repetition,  but  throwing  much  light  on  the  sub- 
jects in  question,  and  withal  characteristic  of  the  writer,  and 
worthy  of  him. 


PAUL   JONES'. 

"  L' Orient,  June  27,  1780. 
"  HONOURED  AND  DEAR  SIR, 

*'  I  have  deferred  writing  to  you  since  my  return  to  this 
kingdom,  because  I  had  orders  myself  to  return  in  the  Alliance 
immediately  to  Philadelphia.  I  was  under  a  necessity  of  going 
to  court  in  April,  to  procure  the  free  sale  of  the  Serapis  and  our 
other  prizes,  and  was  received  by  the  royal  family,  government, 
and  people,  with  that  open-armed  affection  that  so  nobly  nrtirks 
the  character  of  this  generous-minded  nation.  His  majesty 
ordered  a  superb  sword  to  be  made  for  me,  with  an  inscription 
in  Latin  on  the  blade,  that  would  do  honour  to  the  greatest 
admiral  in  history.  The  king  directed  his  minister  to  write  a 
special  letter  to  the  president  of  Congress,  expressing,  in  the 
strongest  terms,  his  personal  esteem  towards  me,  with  his  entire 
approbation  of  my  conduct,  particular  desire  to  promote  my 
future  success,  and  to  see  me  again  at  his  court,  &c.  To  this 
his  majesty  was  pleased  to  add  a  letter  to  his  minister  M.  le 
Chevalier  de  Luzerne,  directing  him  to  ask  permission  of  Con- 
gress, to  invest  me  with  the  order  of  military  merit ;  an  honour 
that  was  never  before  offered  to  a  stranger  who  had  not  actually 
served  either  in  the  army  or  navy  of  France.  I  returned  here, 
being  charged  with  the  despatches  of  government,  and  having 
obtained  the  king's  ship  Ariel  to  assist,  with  the  Alliance,  in 
transporting  to  America  the  supply  of  arms  and  clothing  that  is 
now  here,  and  so  much  wanted  in  our  armies.  The  Luzerne 
and  several  other  merchant  vessels  with  cargoes,  amounting  to 
2,000,000  Uvres,  were  waiting  for  my  convoy.  But  to  the 
astonishment  of  every  person,  on  the  13th  of  this  month,  Cap- 
tain Landais  went  on  board  the  Alliance,  while  I  was  on  shore 
with  the  commandant  of  the  marine,  to  take  measures  for  the 
despatch  of  the  Ariel,  and  declared  he  carne  to  take  the  coin 
mand.  I  made  an  immediate  application  to  the  commandant, 
not  choosing  to  have  any  particular  dispute  with  Captain  Lan- 
dais, after  the  charges  I  had  given  in  against  him,  and  for 
which,  with  the  approbation  of  this  government,  Dr.  Franklin 
had  displaced  him  seven  months  before,  and  given  him  money 


PAUL    JOM  277 

to  bear  his  expenses  to  America  for  trial.  I  was  advised  to 
send  an  express  with  the  account  immediately  to  court.  I 
went  up  myself,  and  returned  in  six  days.  I  found  the  Alliance 
at  the  entrance  of  Port  Louis,  and  every  necessary  disposition 
was  made  to  stop  her  from  going  out,  agreeable  to  the  within 
document ;  but  my  humanity  would  not  suffer  me  to  remain  a 
silent  witness  of  bloodshed  between  the  allied  subjects  of  France 
and  America.  My  having  prevented  that  scene  of  horror,  has 
been,  I  am  persuaded,  no  small  disappointment  to  the  wicked 
hearts  and  empty  heads  of  Captain  Landais'  two  principal  ad- 
visers ;  such  a  scene  would  have  been  an  excellent  ground  of 
argument  for  the  tools  of  England  against  France.  One  of 
these  two  would-be  great  men  will  now  have  his  carriage,  bag- 
gage, and  family,  transported  from  hence  in  the  space  on  board 
the  Alliance,  that  should  have  been  occupied  by  the  soldiers' 
clothing ;  while  the  red  ribboned  commodore  has  taken  ad- 
vantage of  the  confusion,  and  inveigled  away  from  the  conti- 
nental service  a  number  of  seamen,  that  I  had  redeemed  from 
English  dungeons,  and  fed  for  three  months  on  board  the  Al- 
liance, in  order  to  man  the  Ariel.  The  brave  men  who  so 
gloriously  served  with  me  in  the  Bon  Homme  Richard,  are  now 
confined  as  prisoners  in  the  hold  of  the  Alliance,  and  treated 
with  every  mark  of  indignity.  I  had  destined  them  to  complete 
a  crew  for  the  Ariel,  and  have  demanded  them  in  vain  for  that 
purpose. 

"  I  cannot  see  where  all  this  will  end ;  but  surely  it  must  fall 
dreadfully  on  the  heads  of  those  who  have  stirred  up  this  cause- 
less mutiny.  For  my  own  part,  I  shall  make  no  other  remark 
than  that  I  never  directly  nor  indirectly  sought  after  the  com- 
mand of  the  Alliance ;  but  after  having  in  obedience  to  orders 
commanded  her  for  seven  months,  and  after  Mr.  Lee  had  made 
a  written  application  to  me  as  commander  of  that  ship,  for  a 
passage  to  America,  I  am  at  a  loss  what  name  to  give  Mr. 
Lee's  late  conduct  and  duplicity,  in  stirring  up  a  mutiny  in 
favour  of  a  man  who  was  at  first  sent  to  America  contrary  to 
Mr.  Lee's  opinion,  by  Mr.  Dean,  and  who  is  actually  under 


278  PAUL   JONES. 

arrest,  by  order  of  his  sovereign.  What  gives  me  the  greatest 
pain  is,  that  after  I  had  obtained  from  government  the  means 
of  transporting  to  America,  under  a  good  protection,  the  arms 
and  clothing  I  have  already  mentioned,  Mr.  Lee  should  have 
found  means  to  defeat  my  intentions.  I  thank  God  I  am  of  no 
party,  and  have  no  brothers  or  relations  to  serve  ;  but  1  am 
convinced  that  Mr.  Lee  has  acted  in  this  matter  merely  because 
I  would  not  become  the  enemy  of  the  venerable,  the  wise,  and 
good  Franklin,  whose  heart,  as  well  as  head,  does,  and  will 
always,  do  honour  to  human  nature. 

."  I  know  the  great  and  good  in  this  kingdom  better,  perhaps, 
than  any  other  American  who  has  appeared  in  Europe  since 
the  treaty  of  alliance  ;  and  if  my  testimony  could  add  any  thing 
to  Franklin's  reputation,  I  could  witness  the  universal  veneration 
and  esteem  with  which  his  name  inspires  all  ranks,  not  only  at 
Versailles  and  all  over  this  kingdom,  but  also  in  Spain  and 
Holland.  And  I  can  add  from  the  testimony  of  the  first 
characters  of  other  nations,  that  with  them  envy  itself  is  dumb 
when  the  name  of  Franklin  is  but  mentioned. 

"  You  will  bear  me  witness,  my  worthy  friend,  that  I  never 
asked  a  favour  for  myself  from  Congress  ;  for  you  have  seen 
all  my  letters,  and  know  that  I  never  sought  any  indirect  in- 
fluence, though  my  ambition  to  act  an  eminent  and  useful  part 
in  this  glorious  revolution  is  unbounded.  I  pledge  myself  to 
you,  and  to  America,  that  my  zeal  receives  new  ardour  from 
the  opposition  it  meets  with,  and  I  live  but  to  overcome  them, 
and  to  prove  myself  no  mock  patriot,  but  a  true  friend  to  the 
rights  of  human  nature  upon  principles  of  disinterested  philan- 
thropy. Of  this  I  have  already  given  some  proofs,  and  I  will 
give  more  ;  let  not,  therefore,  the  virtuous  senate  of  Ame- 
rica be  misled  by  the  insinuations  of  fallen  ambition.  Should 
any  thing  be  said  to  my  disadvantage,  all  I  ask  is  a  suspension 
of  judgment  until  I  can  appear  before  Congress  to  answer  for 
myself. 

"  I  repeat,  that  I  am  determined  to  steer  clear  of  party,  and 
to  keep  within  my  line  of  duty  as  an  officer.  Deeply  sensible 


PAUL  JONES.  279 

of  the  obligations  I  owe  to  your  friendship,  and  arde:  *ly  wish- 
ing to  merit  the  affection  of  every  good  American. 

"  I  am,  dear  sir,  with  the  highest  esteem  and  respect, 

"  Your  most  obliged, 
"  And  very  humble  servant, 

"JNO.  P.  JONES." 

N.  B.  I  will  do  my  utmost  to  return  immediately  to  Ame- 
rica. I  return  you  my  best  thanks  for  your  letter  of  the  4th 
November. 

The  following  official  letter,  which  M.  de  Sartine  addressed 
to  Jones  on  the* 28th,  needs  insertion,  because  it  was  official, 
and  was  despatched  at  the  right  moment,  being  well  calculated 
to  remove  whatever  feelings  of  mortification  Jones  might  have 
been  supposed  to  labour  with. 

"  Versailles,  June  28,  1780. 
"  SIR, 

"  The  king,  sir,  has  already  made  known  his  satisfaction 
with  the  zeal  and  valour,  which  you  have  displayed  in  Europe, 
in  support  of  the  common  cause  of  the  United  States  of  Ame- 
rica, and  his  majesty,  and  he  has  also  informed  you  of  the  dis- 
tinguished proofs  he  is  disposed  to  give  you  thereof.  Persuaded 
that  the  United  States  will  give  their  consent  that  you  should 
receive  the  cross  of  the  order  of  military  merit,  I  send  you  in 
the  accompanying  packet  addressed  to  M.  de  la  Luzerne,  the 
one  designed  for  you.  You  will  be  pleased  to  deliver  him  this 
packet,  and  he  will  see  that  the  honour  is  conferred  by  a  knight 
of  the  order,  agreeably  to  his  majesty's  orders.  But  at  any  rate, 
that  you  should  have  a  proof  of  the  king's  approbation  and  mu- 
nificence, his  majesty  has  ordered  a  gold  sword  to  be  made  for 
you,  which  will  be  sent  to  you  forthwith,  and  he  has  the  great- 
est confidence  in  the  use  you  will  make  of  it  for  his  glory  and 
that  of  the  United  States.  "I  have  the  honour  to  be,  <fec. 

"  To  M.  Paul  Jones, 
Commodore  of  the  U.  S.  Navy,  at  L' Orient." 


280  PAUL   JONES. 

The  gold  sword  has  been  spoken  of  before  in  this  text,  but 
probably  this  was  the  first  time  Jones  had  heard  of  it ;  and  it 
would  not  have  quickened  his  desire  to  depart.  He  loved  not 
baubles,  but  he  dearly  loved  what  they  meant  and  passed  for 
in  France. 

On  the  28th,  Jones  tried  the  effect  of  another  imperative  let- 
ter to  Captain  Landais,  with  directing  him  not  to  sail  or  put  to 
sea,  before  receiving  instructions  from  himself,  the  "  senior  and 
superior  officer  of  the  navy  of  the  United  States  in  Europe," 
and  to  send  eighty  of  the  best  riggers,  with  all  the  joiners  forth- 
with, from  the  Alliance,  to  rig  and  prepare  the  Ariel.  Lieut. 
M.  Livingston  undertook  to  deliver  this  letter.  To  this  request 
Landais  replied,  addressing  the  commodore  simply  as,  "  John 
Paul  Jones,  Esq.  at  L' Orient — I  send  the  under  named  people 
on  shore,  being  such  as  I  do  not  find  necessary  for  the  service 
of  the  United  States  of  America  on  board  this  ship  ;  if  you  have 
any  authority  for  taking* them,  you  will  do  it."  The  names  of 
twenty-two  persons  are  added,  of  five  of  whom  Landais  re- 
marks, "these  are  prisoners  of  yours."  On  the  29th,  Jones 
wrote  to  him,  "the  boat  returns  for  the  remainder  of  the  men, 
mentioned  in  my  order  of  yesterday."  The  following  N.  B.  is 
added  ;  "  Captain  Landais  ordered  the  bearer  of  this  letter  to 
remain  in  the  boat  alongside  the  Alliance,  and  hold  this  open, 
with  the  writing  towards  him."  Having  seen  it,  he  ordered  the 
boat  to  be  gone. 

The  Alliance  then  sailed.  Jones  says  in  his  Journal,  that 
when  he  begged  the  barrier  of  the  port  might  be  removed, 
the  commandant  called  the  principal  officers  together,  who  sign- 
ed a  paper,  "  stating  the  preparations  which  had  been  made, 
and  expressing  their  admiration  of  the  conduct  of  Captain 
Jones."  All  his  papers  and  trunks  sent  ashore  were  found  bro- 
ken open,  and  the  best  part  of  his  effects  were  detained,  or  de- 
stroyed on  board  the  Alliance.  The  people  who  adhered  to  him 
in  that  ship,  and  refused  to  weigh  anchor,  were  confined  and 
carried  away  in  irons.  He  was  left  without  a  crew  for  the  Ariel, 
and  was  unable  to  embark  the  clothing. 


PAUL   JONES.  281 

In  the  middle  of  the  following  month,  we  find  the  commodore 
thus  writing  to  a  lady,  whose  name  is  not  mentioned. 

"  MADAM, 

"  When  one  is  conscious  of  having  been  in  fault,  I  believe  it 
is  the  best  way  .to  confess  it,  and  to  promise  amendment.  This 
being  my  case  with  respect  to  you,  madam,  I  am  too  honest  to 
attempt  to  excuse  myself;  and,  therefore,  cast  myself  at  your 
feet  and  beg  your  forgiveness,  on  condition  that  I  behave 
better  hereafter.  For  shame,  Paul  Jones! liow  could  you  let 
the  fairest  lady  in  the  world,  after  writing  you  two  letters,  wait 
so  long  for  an  answer !  Are  you  so  much  devoted  to  war,  as  to 
neglect  wit  and  beauty?  I  make  myself  a  thousand  such  re- 
proaches, and  believe  I  punish  myself  as  severely  as  you  would 
do,  madam,  were  you  present  here. 

"  The  truth  is,  I  have  been  willing  that  the  extraordinary  events 
that  have  taken  place  here  with  respect  to  the  frigate  Alliance, 
should  be  communicated  to  you  rather  by  others,  than  by  my- 
self ;  for  though,  God  knows,  I  have  not  been  to  blame  for  these 
events,  yet  I  have  felt  rather  ashamed  that  they  should  have 
happened ;  the  more  so  as  the  cause  has  been  rather  of  a  delicate 
nature.  I  will  mention  it,  however,  to  you."  He  then  states, 
that  M.  de  Chaumont  had,  up  to  that  moment,  unjustly  retained 
from  the  crew  every  sol  of  their  wages  and  shares  of  prizes, 
and  that  certain  persons  had  persuaded  them  that  he  himself 
concurred  in  such  measures. 

On  the  24th,  he  wrote  to  Madame  Tellison.  What  would  be 
repetition  is  omitted. 

"  MADAM, 

"  When  you  did  me  the  honour  to  ask  my  promise  to  write 
to  you  a  particular  account  of  my  services  in  this  revolution  and 
of  my  late  expedition,  I  thought  myself  very  happy,  indeed,  in 
enjoying  that  pleasing  proof  of  your  attention  ;  and  it  was  my 
firm  intention  to  have  fulfilled  my  promise  with  you  on  that 

35 


282  PAUL   JONES. 

head,  immediately  after  my  return  here.  Had  I  undertaken  to 
write  my  own  history  to  a  lady  of  a  less  elevated  mind  than 

Madam  T ,  I  should  have  run  too  great  a  risk,  especially 

in  what  relates  to  my  last  battle  ;  many  circumstances  of  which 
are  not  yet  known  to  the  world,  and  are  of  such  a  nature  as  not 
to  be  believed  by  an  ordinary  mind,  upon  the  evidence  of  an  in- 
dividual. With  you,  madam,  I  have  not  the  remotest  doubt, 
and  the  extraordinary  event  that  took  place  here,  with  respect 
to  the  Alliance,  is  the  only  reason  that  has  withheld  my  pen.  I 
confess  to  you,  I  feel  rather  ashamed  that  such  an  event  should 
have  happened  ;  although,  God  knows,  it  was  not  owing  to  any 
fault  of  mine.  *  *  *  *  I  had  disapproved  the  conduct  of  M.  le 
Ray  de  Chaumont  so  much  as  neither  to  speak  nor  write  to  him 
after  my  return  to  France.  My  sole  business  at  court  was  to 
obtain  the  free  sale  of  the  prizes,  which  I  effected.  *  *  *  *  I 
know  that  soon  after  my  arrival  in  America,  Congress  will  ren- 
der me  impartial  justice.  I  will  then  have  the  happiness  to 
furnish  you  with  the  account  I  promised,  and  the  circumstances 
will  be  supported  by  the  fullest  evidence.  1  dare  promise  that 
it  will  then  appear  that  I  have  only  been  to  blame  for  having 
returned  here  from  Paris,  without  having  insisted  absolutely  on 
the  previous  payment  of  my  men.  Money  is  essential  in  war  :  in 
love,  you  will  tell  me,  perhaps,  the  case  may  be  otherwise.  I 
have  still  in  contemplation  to  return  to  France  soon  after  I 
arrive  in  America,  for  I  have  the  most  ardent  desire  to  give  the 
court,  the  nation,  and  my  friends,  farther  proofs  of  my  gratitude, 
by  my  services  in  the  glorious  cause  of  freedom  that  France  has 
so  nobly  espoused  in  concert  with  America." 

On  the  28th,  he  wrote  to  the  Marquise  de  la  Fayette  :  "  I  am 
once  more  nearly  ready  for  sea.  If  I  can  in  any  respect  render 
you  acceptable  services,  you  know  I  have  so  much  esteem  and 
respect  for  yourself,  and  so  much  affectionate  friendship  for 
your  husband,  that  you  will,  I  hope,  command  me  freely.  1 
expect  to  embrace  the  marquis  about  the  first  of  October  ;  and 
it  is  not  impossible,  that  we  may  return  together  to  France. 
Believe  me,  I  am,  with  great  sincerity  and  regard,  <fcc." 


PAUL   JONES.  283 

These  letters  to  three  ladies,  are  the  only  letters  found  writ- 
ten by  Jones  in  the  month  of  July,  which  are  before  the  com- 
piler. He  was  soon,  however,  busily  engaged  in  writing  to  the 
French  ministers,  and  those  who  had  access  to,  or  influence  with 
them.  Jones  laid  his  projects  before  them  again  ;  and  again 
strenuously  and  not  indecorously  applied  for  employment  in 
what  his  soul  most  sighed  after,  an  expedition  after  his  own 
heart ;  in  which  he  should  have  no  concordat  to  control  him, 
no  sage  peers  to  neutralise  his  purposes.  He  could  not  expect 
any  such  command  from  Congress,  even  on  the  most  modest 
scale.  He  endeavoured  to  avail  himself  of  his  reputation,  and 
the  influence  it  might  create  for  him,  in  every  direction,  to  ob- 
tain such  a  force  as  might  enable  him  hopefully  to  attempt  some 
one  of  those  schemes,  with  which  his  ardent  ambition  was  teem- 
ing ;  which,  if  it  did  not  "  strike  a  blow  that  should  resound 
through  the  universe,"  would  sensibly  affect  the  nerves  of  the 
imaginary  ocean  queen  ;  and  teach  her,  that  if  she  had  rebels, 
pirates,  and  privateers  to  deal  with,  they  were  of  no  common 
sort. 

If  circumstances  did  not  permit  him  to  sail  with  the  Ariel  at 
this  precise  time,  (and  they  were  beyond  his  control,)  we  cannot 
suppose  that  he  found  them  altogether  painful.  That  "  he 
often  took  leave,  yet  was  loath  to  depart,"  may  be  true  ;  but  it 
was  not  his  fault  that  the  departure  did  not  take  place. 

We  cannot  omit  his  letter  to  the  Count  of  Vergennes,  dated 
the  2d  August. 

"  MY  LORD, 

"  I  should  be  unworthy  of  the  illustrious  marks  that  I  have 
lately  received  of  the  royal  favour,  if  I  were  not  constantly  im- 
pressed with  the  most  ardent  zeal  to  merit  the  continuance  of 
his  majesty's  approbation,  by  an  invariable  attention  to  the 
mutual  interests  of  France  and  America.  Although  my  de- 
parture for  America  has  been  protracted  by  unforseen  events, 
it  is  not  yet  too  late  for  government  to  pray  the  Congress  that  I 
may,  during  the  remainder  of  this  war  "be  constantly  employed 


284  PAUL   JONES. 

on  active  and  useful  services,  tending  to  distract  and  distress 
the  common  enemy.  After  having  been  so  highly  honoured  by 
the  kind  attentions  of  the  king's  ministers,  and  their  approba- 
tion of  my  poor  services,  I  am  convinced  that  I  shall  still  find 
such  support  and  protection  from  this  government,  as  may 
enable  me  to  prove  my  gratitude  by  my  future  actions. 

"  Since  I  had  the  honour  of  laying  before  your  excellency,  in 
the  month  of  May  last,  my  project  for  future  expeditions,  the 
events  of  the  war  have  not  so  altered  circumstances  as  to  render 
my  ideas  inexpedient ;  on  the  contrary,  the  farther  the  war  ad- 
vances, I  am  the  more  confirmed  in  the  utility  that  would  result 
to  the  common  cause  from  such  services  as  I  have  therein 
hinted  at.  I  was  then  happy  in  finding  that  your  excellency 
approved  of  my  ideas  ;  it  is  therefore  that  I  now  enclose  a  copy, 
which  I  beseech  your  excellency  to  reconsider  and  lay  before 
his  majesty's  privy  council.  If  such  expeditions  as  I  wish  to 
command  were  to  be  fitted  out  in  America,  I  might  be  able  with 
the  greater  certainty  to  strike  the  first  blow  by  a  complete  sur- 
prise. Before  the  fleet  of  his  majesty  sailed  from  Brest  the 
first  time,  under  Count  D'Orvilliers,  M.  de  Chaumont  told  me 
it  was  the  desire  of  government  to  have  my  ideas  on  private 
expeditions  in  writing.  I  gave  him  with  great  pleasure  many 
ideas,  from  my  long  knowledge  of  the  enemy's  trade  and  situa- 
tion, that  might  have  proved  of  great  advantage  to  our  cause, 
and  I  wish  M.  de  Chaumont  had  given  all  my  then  ideas  to  the 
court,  although  I  am  told  he  has  taken  credit  for  some  of  them 
as  his  own.  I  am  now  nearly  ready  for  sea  with  his  majesty's 
sloop  of  war  the  Ariel,  and  I  should  be  happy  to  carry  with  me 
to  Congress  the  interest  of  this  government  for  my  promotion  ; 
but  especially  that  I  may  be  henceforth  constantly  employed  in 
the  most  active  and  enterprising  services,  with  such  a  force 
under  my  command  as  may  enable  me  effectually  to  promote 
the  interest  of  our  glorious  cause.  This,  my  lord,  would  be  my 
supreme  ambition,  actuated  by  no  mean  views  of  self  interest, 
but  inspired  by  the  purest  principles  of  gratitude  and  philan- 
thropy. It  is  upon  this  ground  alone  that  I  depend  on  the 


PAUL   JONES.  285 

constant  protection  of  the  king,  your  excellency,  and  this 
government. 

"  It  is  absolutely  necessary,  ray  lord,  to  destroy  the  foreign 
commerce  of  the  English,  especially  their  trade  to  the  Baltic, 
from  whence  they  draw  all  the  supplies  for  their  marine.  It  is 
equally  necessary  to  alarm  their  coasts,  not  only  in  the  colonies 
abroad,  but  even  in  their  islands  at  home.  These  things  would 
distress  and  distract  the  enemy  much  more  than  many  battles 
between  fleets  of  equal  force.  England  has  carried  on  the  war 
against  America  in  a  far  more  barbarous  form  than  she  durst 
have  adopted  against  any  power  of  Europe.  America  has  a 
right  to  retaliate  ;  and  by  our  having  the  same  language  and 
customs  with  the  enemy,  we  are  in  a  situation  to  surprise  their 
coast  and  take  such  advantage  of  their  unguarded  situation, 
under  the  flag  of  America,  as  can  never  be  done  under  the  flag 
of  France.  This  is  not  theory,  for  I  have  proved  it  by  my  expe- 
rience ;  and  if  I  have  opportunity  I  will  yet  prove  it  more 
fully. 

"  I  shall  be  happy,  my  lord,  to  be  honoured  with  your  excel- 
lency's determination  as  soon  as  possible,  as  I  purpose  to  pro- 
ceed with  the  utmost  expedition  to  Philadelphia,  and  as  there 
is  no  time  to  lose  in  preparing  for  the  operations  of  the  next 
campaign." 

We  should  infer  from  this  letter,  that  M.  Le  Ray  de  Chau- 
mont  was  the  "  man  at  the  entrance  of  the  garden."  And  it 
needs  no  Sphinx  to  explain,  why  a  man  of  Jones'  temper  quar- 
relled with  him,  because  the  gate  was  not  always  open. 

Whether  the  project  submitted  by  Jones  was  quixotic  or  ra- 
tional, the  French  government  could  not  have  complied  with 
his  demands,  such  r.s  they  are  intimated  to  have  been  by  the 
reply  of  the  Compte  de  Maurepas,  from  which  the  following 
extract  is  taken  :  "  I  have  examined  and  communicated  to  M. 
de  Sartine  the  project  annexed  to  your  letter,  and  we  have  no 
manner  of  doubt  of  the  good  effect  that  would  result,  were  it 
entrusted  to  you.  But  at  present  it  could  not  be  said  what  num- 


2S6  PAUL   JONES. 

ber  of  fr'gates  might  be  employed,  they  being  all  actiddly 
armed  on  account  of  the  king,  and  the  plan  of  the  approaching 
campaign  is  not  yet  sufficiently  determined,  positively  to  say 
how  many  frigates  may  be  given  to  you.  But  this  need  not 
prevent,  if  you  have  the  consent  of  Congress,  the  execution  of 
the  first  part  of  your  scheme,  to  come  here,  as  you  propose,  with 
the  Alliance  and  the  other  vessels  which  you  may  have,  and 
with  a  sufficient  American  crew  to  arm  the  frigates  which  may 
join  you.  I  will  endeavour  here  to  secure  some  for  you,  or  to 
substitute  privateers  in  their  place.  This  is  all  I  can  inform  you 
of  for  the  present." 

Three  days  before  the  date  of  the  letter  last  referred  to, 
Franklin  had  written  to  Jones,  sending  him  his  despatches  by 
the  Count  de  Vauban,  and  requesting  him  to  sink  them,  if  ne- 
cessary. The  following  passage  in  his  letter  deserves  notice, 
because  it  would  appear  that  Jones  had  shown  a  morbid  degree 
of  sensibility,  after  the  high  ground  he  had  taken  and  well  main- 
tained, to  the  misconceptions  of  individuals.  "  Depend  upon  it," 
said  the  minister,  "I  never  wrote  to  Mr.  Gillon  that  the  Bon 
Homme  Richard  was  a  privateer.  I  could  not  write  so  ;  be- 
cause I  never  had  such  a  thought.  I  will,  next  post,  send  you 
a  copy  of  my  letter  to  him ;  by  which  you  will  perceive  that  he 
has  only  forced  that  construction  from  a  vague  expression,"  &c. 
The  vague  expression  was  the  mercantile  phrase  "  the  concerned" 
We  have  no  time  to  spend  on  Mr.  Gillon's  misconstructions. 

The  Ariel  lay  at  the  road  of  Groix  when,  on  the  13th  Septem- 
ber, a  month  after  the  date  of  the  last  letter  that  has  been  quoted, 
when  we  find  an  epistle  from  Jones,  dated  from  on  board,  to 
Madame  la  Presidente  L'Ormoy  :  "  My  particular  thanks  are 
due  to  you,  madam,  for  the  personal  proofs  I  have  received  of 
your  esteem  and  friendship,  and  for  the  happiness  you  procured 
me  in  the  society  of  the  charming  countess  and  other  ladies  and 
gentlemen  of  your  circle.  But  I  have  a  favour  to  ask  of  you, 
madam,  which  I  hope  you  will  grant  me.  You  tell  me  in  your 
letter,  that  the  inkstand,  I  had  the  honour  to  present  you  as  a 
small  token  of  my  esteem,  shall  be  reserved  for  the  purpose  of 


PAUL  JONES.  287 

'    _  * 

writing  what  concerns  me.  Now  I  wish  you  to  see  my  idea  in 
a  more  expanded  light,  and  would  have  you  make  use  cf  that 
inkstand  to  instruct  mankind  and  support  the  dignity  and  rights 
of  human  nature." 

We  have  now  got  among  the  correspondence  of  Jones  with 
the  Parisian  ladies.  The  letters  from  Delia  are  most  nume- 
rous. Who  the  lady  was  that  assumed  this  signature,  must 
remain  a  mystery  ;  nor  would  the  discovery  be  of  any  interest. 
She  would  be  as  little  identified  to  every  reader  of  this  day  by 
her  real  name,  as  by  that  which  she  assumed.  Specimens  of  her 
manner  of  writing  have  appeared  in  print,  in  sufficient  numbers 
and  quantity.  Her  original  letters,  in  French,  indicate  a  want  of 
acquaintance  with  the  art  of  spelling.  It  is  said  in  the  Edin- 
burgh Life  of  Jones,  that  Delia  has  been  discovered  in  America 
to  have  been  a  young  lady  of  the  court.  This  is  not  the  fact,  as 
the  surmise  was  first  made,  upon  no  authority  that  has  ever  been 
heard  of,  in  London. 

Madame  T ,  another  correspondent  of  Jones,  a  "  wor- 
th) lady"  as  he  styles  her,  and  as  she  was  no  doubt,  was  a 
da  jghter  of  Louis  XV.  and  of  a  lady  of  quality,  as  we  learn  by 
a  letter  from  Jones  to  Mr.  Jefferson,  written  several  years  after 
this  period.  "  His  majesty,"  Jones  says,  "  bestowed  a  very 
large  fortune  on  the  mother,  on  her  daughter's  account.  Unfor- 
tunately the  father  died  while  the  daughter  (his  great  favourite) 
was  very  young ;  and  the  mother  has  never  since  shown  her 
either  justice  or  natural  affection.  She  was  long  the  silent  vic- 
tim of  that  injustice  ;  but  I  had  the  pleasure  to  be  instrumental 
in  putting  her  in  a  fair  way  to  obtain  redress." 

His  influence  at  court,  real  or  supposed,  was  a  motive  which, 
in  addition  to  his  renown,  prompted  the  fair  to  smile  on  him, 
and  solicit  its  exertion  in  obtaining  those  favours  which  are  won 
by  such  interest.  The  Countess  de  Lavendahl,  (or  Lawendal, 
as  Jones  always  spells  the  name,)  a  young  and  dashing  woman, 
seems  to  have  looked  for  the  promotion  of  her  husband  through 
his  application,  and  at  the  same  time  to  have  had  no  objection 
to  indulge  in  a  little  harmless  gallantry.  She  painted  a  minia- 


288  PAUL   JONES. 

<« 
ture  of  him,  and  gave  him  her  own.     Certain  letters  were  pub 

lished  in  the  English  press  at  this  period,  which  were  ascribed 
to  a  young  English  lady,  Miss  Edes,  residing  at  Versailles.  We 
find  the  following  extracts  from  them  in  the  Edinburgh  Life. 

"  The  famous  Paul  Jones  dines  and  sups  here  often  ;  he  is 
a  smart  man  of  thirty-six,  speaks  but  little  French,  appears  to 
be  an  extraordinary  genius,  a  poet  as  well  as  a  hero ;  a  few  days 
ago  he  wrote  some  verses  extempore,  of  which  I  send  you  a 
copy.  He  is  greatly  admired  here,  especially  by  the  ladies,  who 
are  all  wild  for  love  of  him,  as  he  for  them  ;  but  he  adores  Lady 

,  (the  Countess  Lavendahl,)  who  has  honoured  him  with 

every  mark  of  politeness  and  distinction." 

"  Verses  addressed  to  the  ladies  who  have  done  me  the  honour  of  their  polite  attention  !" 
Presented  by  Paul  Jones  to  Mademoiselle  G 

"  Insulted  Freedom  bled, — I  felt  her  cause, 
And  drew  my  sword  to  vindicate  her  laws, 
From  principle,  and  not  from  vain  applause. 
I've  done  my  best ;  self  interest  far  apart, 
And  self  reproach  a  stranger  to  my  heart ; 
My  zeal  still  prompts,  ambitious  to  pursue 
The  foe,  ye  fair !  of  liberty  and  you : 
Grateful  for  praise,  spontaneous  and  unbought, 
A  generous  people's  love  not  meanly  sought ; 
To  merit  this,  and  bend  the  knee  to  beauty, 
Shall  be  my  earliest  and  latest  duty." 

In  a  subsequent  letter,  the  supposed  Miss  Edes  says  :  "  Since 
my  last,  Paul  Jones  drank  tea  and  supped  here.  If  I  am  in 
love  with  him,  for  love  I  may  die ;  I  have  as  many  rivals  as 

there  are  ladies ;  but  the  most  formidable  is  still  Lady , 

(the  Countess  Lavendahl,)  who  possesses  all  his  heart.  This 
lady  is  of  high  rank  and  virtue,  very  sensible,  good  natured, 
and  affable.  Besides  this,  she  is  possessed  of  youth,  beauty,  and 
wit,  and  every  other  female  accomplishment.  He  is  gone,  I 
suppose,  for  America.  They  correspond,  and  his  letters  are 
replete  with  elegance,  sentiment,  and  delicacy.  She  drew  his 
picture,  (a  striking  likeness,)  and  wrote  some  lines  under  it, 


PAUL  JONES.  289 

which  are  much  admired,  and  presented  it  t  j  nim,  vvho,  since 
he  received  it,  is,  he  says,  like  a  second  Narcissus,  in  love  with 
his  own  resemblance  ;  to  be  sure  he  is  the  most  agreeable  sea 
wolf  one  would  wish  to  meet  with.  As  to  his  verses,  you  may 
do  with  them  what  you  please.  The  king  has  given  him  a 
magnificent  gold  sword,  which,  lest  it  should  fall  into  the  hands 
of  the  enemy,  he  has  begged  leave  to  commit  to  the  care  of 
her  ladyship— a  piece  of  gallantry  which  is  here  highly  ap- 
plauded. If  any  further  account  of  this  singular  genius  should 
reach  my  hands,  you  shall  have  it." 

The  countess  could  not  have  been  much  pleased  to  find  her 
gallantries  thus  chronicled  in  public  newspapers,  and  the  fol- 
lowing letter,  which  Jones  wrote  to  her  from  Versailles,  appears 
to  have  induced  her  to  think  that  the  correspondence  had  been 
carried  far  enough. 

"  I  am  deeply  concerned  in  all  that  respects  your  happiness : 
I  therefore  have  been,  and  am  much  affected  at  some  words 
;hat  fell  in  private  conversation  from  Miss  Edes,  the  evening  I 
left  Versailles.  I  am  afraid  that  you  are  Jess  happy  than  I 
wish,  and  am  sure  you  deserve  to  be.  1  am  composing  a  cipher 
for  a  key  to  our  future  correspondence,  so  that  you  will  he  able 
to  write  me  very  freely,  and  without  risk.  It  is  a  sr/iall  dic- 
tionary of  particular  words,  with  a  number  annexed  <;o  each  of 
them.  In  our  letters  we  will  write,  sometimes,  the  corresponding 
number  instead  of  the  word,  so  that  the  meaning  can  never  be 
understood  until  the  corresponding  words  are  interlined  over 
the  numbers. 

"  I  beseech  you  to  accept  the  within  lock.  I  am  sorry  that 
it  is  now  eighteen  inches  shorter  than  it  was  three  months  ago. 
If  I  could  send  you  my  heart  itself,  or  any  thing  else  that  could 
afford  you  pleasure,  it  would  be  my  happiness  to  do  it.  Before 
I  had  the  honour  of  seeing  you,  I  wished  to  comply  with  the 
invitation  of  my  lodge,*  and  I  need  not  add  that  I  have  sinct  * 


Probably  the  lodge  of  the  Neuf  Saurs,  of  which  he  was  a  member.— Ed.  Life. 

36 


290  PAUL   JONES. 

found  stronger  reasons  that  have  compelled  me  to  seek  the  means 
of  returning  to  France  again  as  soon  as  possible." 

The  lady  appears  to  have  retained  the  cipher,  the  letter,  and 
the  lock  ;  but  wrote  to  express  her  astonishment  at  Jones'  bold- 
ness ;  and  expressed  a  supposition  that  the  letter  must  have 
been  misdirected.  She  begged  to  introduce  to  him  the  Count 
Lavendahl,  her  husband,  who  was  passing  through  L' Orient, 
and  said  she  should  be  obliged  to  Jones,  if  he  would  "  pay  him 
every  civility." 

Jones  got  out  of  his  false  position  with  admirable  coolness 
and  dexterity,  as  the  following  letter  will  show.  It  is  dated 
July  14th. 

"  MADAM, 

"  Since  I  had  the  honour  to  receive  your  packet  from  Ver- 
sailles, I  have  carefully  examined  the  copy  of  my  letter  from 
Nantes,  but  am  still  at  a  loss,  and  cannot  conceive,  what  part  of 
the  letter  itself  could  have  occasioned  your  imagining  I  had 
mistaken  the  address.  As  for  the  little  packet  it  contained, 
perhaps  it  might  better  have  been  omitted  :  if  so,  it  is  easily  de- 
stroyed. If  my  letter  has  given  you  even  a  moment's  uneasiness, 
I  can  assure  you,  that  to  think  so  would  be  as  severe  a  punish- 
ment as  could  be  inflicted  upon  me.  However  I  may  have  been 
mistaken,  my  intention  could  never  have  been  to  give  you  the 
most  distant  offence.  I  was  greatly  honoured  by  the  visit  of  the 
count,  your  husband,  and  am  so  well  convinced  of  his  superior 
understanding,  that  I  am  glad  to  believe  Miss  Edes  was  mis- 
taken. I  admire  him  so  much,  that  I  should  esteem  myself 
very  happy  indeed  to  have  a  joint  expedition  with  him  by  sea 
and  land,  though  I  am  certain  that  his  laurels  would  far  exceed 
mine.  I  mention  this,  because  M.  de  Genet  has  both  spoken 
and  written  to  me  gn  the  subject,  as  from  the  count  himself. 

"  I  had  the  honour  to  lay  a  project  before  the  king's  minis- 
ters in  the  month  of  May,  for  future  combined  expeditions 
under  the  flag  of  America,  and  had  the  satisfaction  to  find  that 
my  ideas  were  approved  by  them.  If  the  count,  your  husband, 


PAUL   JONES. 

will  do  me  the  honour  to  concert  with  M.  de  Genet,  that  the  court 
may  send  with  me  to  America  the  application  that  was  intended 
to  be  made  to  Congress,  conformable  to  the  proposal  I  made,  it 
would  afford  me  a  pleasing  opportunity  of  showing  my  gratitude 
to  the  king,  to  his  ministers,  and  to  his  generous-minded  nation. 
I  should  be  greatly  proud  to  owe  my  success  to  your  own  good 
offices  ;  and  would  gladly  share  with  your  husband  the  honour 
that  might  result  from  our  operations.  I  have  within  these  few 
days  had  the  honour  to  receive  from  his  majesty  the  cross  of 
military  merit,  with  a  sword  that  is  worthy  the  royal  giver,  and 
a  letter  which  I  ardently  wish  to  deserve.  I  hold  the  sword  in 
too  high  estimation  to  risk  its  being  taken  by  the  enemy  ;  and 
therefore  propose  to  deposite  it  in  the  care  of  a  friend.  None 
can  be  more  worthy  of  that  sacred  deposite  than  you,  madam  ; 
and  if  you  will  do  me  the  honour  to  be  its  guardian,  I  shall 
esteem  myself  under  an  additional  obligation  to  deserve  your 
ribbon,  and  to  prove  myself  worthy  of  the  title  of  your  knight. 
I  promised  to  send  you  a  particular  account  of  my  late  expedi- 
tion ;  but  the  late  extraordinary  events  that  have  taken  place, 
with  respect  to  the  frigate  Alliance,  made  me  wish  to  postpone 
that  relation  until  after  a  court  martial  in  America  shall  have 
furnished  evidence  for  many  circumstances  that  would,  from  a. 
simple  assertion,  appear  romance  and  founded  on  vanity.  The 
only  reason  for  the  revolt  on  board  the  Alliance  was,  because 
the  men  were  not  paid  either  wages  or  prize  money  ;  and  be- 
cause one  or  two  envious  persons  persuaded  them  that  I  had 
concurred  with  M.  de  Chaumont  to  defraud  them,  and  to  keep 
them  in  Europe  during  the  war,  which,  God  knows,  was  not 
true.  For  I  was  bound  directly  for  America ;  and  far  from 
concurring  with  M.  de  Chaumont,  I  had  not  even  written  or 
spoken  to  him,  but  had  highly  resented  hi?  mean  endeavours 
to  keep  the  poor  men  out  of  their  just  rights,  which  was  the 
only  business  that  brought  me  to  court  in  April. 

"  If  I  am  to  have  the  honour  of  writing  you  from  beyond  sea, 
you  will  find  that  the  cipher  I  had  the  honour  to  send  you  may 
be  necessary  ;  because  I  would  not  wish  all  my  informations  to 


292  PAUL   JONES 

be  understood,  in  case  my  letters  should  fall  into  the  hards  of 
the  enemy.  I  shall  communicate  no  idea  in  cipher  that  will 
offend  even  such  great  delicacy  as  yours  ;  but  as  you  are  a 
philosopher,  and  as  friendship  has  nothing  to  do^with  sex,  pray 
what  harm  is  there  in  wishing  to  have  the  picture  of  a  friend  ? 
Present,  I  pray,  my  best  respects  to  tho  count.  If  we  are 
hereafter  to  be  concerned  together  in  war,  I  hope  my  conduct 
will  give  him  satisfaction  ;  at  any  rate,  I  hope  for  the  honour  of 
his  friendship.  Be  assured  that  I  shall  ever  preserve  for  you 
the  most  profound  esteem  and  the  most  grateful  respect. 

"  PAUL  JONES." 

The  brilliant  sword  of  which  Jones  offered  to  make  the  fair 
countess  the  depositary,  bore  this  inscription  :  VINDICATI  MA- 
RIS  LUDOVICUS  XVI.  REMUNERATOR  STRENUO  VINDICI.  The 
lady  declined  becoming  its  guardian,  as  we  learn  from  the  next 
epistle,  supposing  it  to  have  been  addressed  to  her. 

"  Arid,  road  of  Groix,  September  21, 1780. 

"  MADAM, — I  was  honoured  with  the  very  polite  letter  that 
your  ladyship  condescended  to  write  me  on  the  5th  of  last  month. 
I  am  sorry  that  you  have  found  it  necessary  to  refuse  me  the 
honour  of  accepting  the  deposite  mentioned  in  my  last,  but  am 
determined  to  follow  your  advice,  and  be  myself  its  guardian. 
[A  day  or  two  before  I  wrote  to  you  last,  I  had  received  a  chal- 
lenge from  Sir  James  Wallace,  who,  in  the  Nonesuch,  a  ship  of 
the  line,  copper  bottomed  and  of  superior  swiftness,  declared  he 
waited  in  sight  for  my  departure.  Had  I  commanded  an  equal 
force,  I  hope  you  will  believe,  I  would  have  employed  my  time 
otherwise  than  in  writing  you  any  proposition  for  the  safety  of 
a  weapon,  that  I  .should  have  hoped  to  use  immediately  with 
success.]*  I  have  been  detained  in  this  open  road  by  contrary 


*  The  passage  in  brackets,  is  inserted  from  the  copy  of  this  letter  published  in  Sher- 
burne,  where,  as  in  the  copy  before  me,  it  is  addressed  to  the  Countess  of  Bourbon. 
I  find  no  great  difficulty  in  supposing,  that  Jones  paid  to  that  lady,  the  same  compli- 


PAUL   JONES.  293 

and  stormy  winds,  since  the  4th  of  this  month.  There  is  this 
moment  an  appearance  of  a  fair  opportunity,  and  I  will  eagerly 
embrace  it.  I  have  received  a  letter  from  the  first  minister, 
very  favourable  to  the  project  I  mentioned  to  you,  and  you  may 
depend  on  my  utmost  interest  with  Congress  to  bring  the  mat- 
ter to  issue.  I  am  sure  that  assembly  will,  with  pleasure,  say  all 
yourself  or  the  count  could  wish,  respecting  the  count,  if  my 
scheme  is  adopted. 

"  I  have  the  satisfaction  to  inform  you,  that,  by  the  testimony 
of  all  the  persons  just  arrived  in  four  ships  at  L'Orient  from 
Philadelphia,  the  Congress  and  all  America  appeared  to  be 
warmly  my  friends  ;  and  niy  heart,  conscious  of  its  own  upright- 
ness, tells  me  I  shall  be  well  received.  Deeply  and  gratefully 
impressed  with  a  sense  of  what  I  owe  to  you  and  your  husband's 
attentions  and  good  wishes,  and  ardently  desiring  to  merit  your 
friendship  and  the  love  of  this  nation,  by  my  conduct  through  life, 

"  I  remain,  madam,  &c.  &c. 

"  P.  S. — I  will  not  fail  to  write  whenever  I  have  any  thing 
worth  your  reading;  at  the  same  time,  may  I  hope  to  be 
honoured  now  and  then  with  a  letter  from  you,  directed  to  Phila- 
delphia. I  was  selfish  in  begging  you  to  write  me  in  French, 
because  your  letters  would  serve  me  as  an  exercise.  Your  Eng- 
lish is  correct,  and  even  elegant." 

The  correspondence  with  this  lady  was  resumed  somewhat 
more  ceremoniously,  a  few  years  after  this  period. 

On  the  22d  of  this  month  he  wrote  to  M.  de  la  Sartine,  sta- 
ting that  he  could  no  longer  be  silent,  while  the  money  due  to 
them  was  withheld  from  his  officers  and  crew,  as  their  loud  com- 
plaints "would,  through  the  artifices  of  Englishmen  and  Tories, 
give  rise  to  very  disagreeable  clamours,  and  be  ascribed  to  minis- 
ters. *  *  *  *  Two  years,  my  lord,  has  that  hair-brained  man 


ment  which  the  Countess  de  Lavendahl  rejected.     But  a  comparison  of  dates  renders 
it  most  probable  that  the  epistle  was  written  to  the  latter. 


294  PAUL   JONES. 

(M.  de  Chaumont)  been  employed  in  marring  every  idea  of 
mine  that  was  calculated  to  promote  the  common  cause.  *  *  *  *  If 
he  had  not  interfered  with  the  police  of  the  squadron,  nor  be- 
trayed the  secret  of  its  intended  operations,  very  essential  ser- 
vices might  have  bee«  rendered  to  the  common  cause.  I  verily 
believe  the  Baltic  fleet  could  never  have  entered  the  ports  of 
England;  and  I  am  certain  that  Leith  and  Edinburgh  would 
have  been  laid  under  a  heavy  contribution,  and  the  merchant 
shipping  of  some  of  the  principal  harbours  of  England  burnt  to 
ashes.  If  the  Baltic  fleet  had  not  entered  the  ports  of  England, 
Admiral  Rodney  would  not  have  sailed,  and  the  flag  of  Spain 
would  now  have  waved  over  the  ramparts  of  Gibraltar."  M.  de 
Chaumont  was  the  cause,  certainly,  of  some  strong  negatives 
and  long  inferences. 

We  shall  now  follow  Jones'  Journal.  "  He  obtained  a  crew 
for  the  Ariel,  that  was  ordered  by  government  to  be  fully  armed 
and  equipped.  He  embarked  such  a  quantity  of  arms  and  pow- 
der as,  with  provision  for  only  nine  weeks,  filled  the  [ship  even 
between  decks.  He  hoped  to  make  the  passage  in  a  favourable 
season  of  the  year,  but  was  detained  by  contrary  and  stormy 
winds  in  the  road  of  Groix,  from  the  4th  of  September  till  the 
8th  of  October.  He  then  sailed  with  a  fair  wind  and  pleasant 
weather ;  but  the  next  night  the  Ariel  was  driven  by  a  violent 
tempest  close  to  the  rocks  of  the  Penmarque,  a  terrible  ledge 
between  L'Orient  and  Brest.  The  ship  could  show  no  sail,  but 
was  almost  buried  under  the  water,  not  having  room  to  run  be- 
fore the  wind,  and  having  several  feet  water  in  the  hold.  Find- 
ing the  depth  of  water  diminish  fast,  Captain  Jones,  in  the  last 
extremity,  cast  anchor  ;  but  could  not  bring  the  ship's  head  to 
the  wind.  Sometimes  the  lower  yard-arms  touched  the  water. 
Captain  Jones  now  had  no  remedy  left,  but  to  cut  away  the  fore- 
mast. This  had  the  desired  effect ;  and  the  ship  immediately  came 
head  to  the  wind.  The  main-mast  had  got  out  of  the  step,  and 
now  reeled  about  like  a  drunken  man.  Foreseeing  the  danger 
of  its  either  breaking  off  below  the  gun-deck,  or  going  through 
the  ship's  bottom,  Captain  Jones  ordered  it  to  be  cut  away.  But 


PAUL   JONES.  295 

before  this  could  be  done,  the  chain-plates  gave  way,  and  the 
main-mast  breaking  off  by  the  gun-deck,  carried  with  it  the 
mizen-mast ;  and  the  mizen-mast  carried  away  the  quarter-gal- 
lery. In  that  situation,  the  Ariel  rode  in  the  open  ocean,  to 
windward  of  perhaps  the  most  dangerous  ledge  of  rocks  in  the 
world,  for  two  days  and  near  three  nights,  in  a  tempest  that 
covered  the  shore  with  wrecks  and  dead  bodies,  and  that  drove 
ships  ashore  from  their  anchors,  even  in  the  port  of  L' Orient. 
It  was  perhaps  fortunate  that  the  Ariel  lost  her  masts,  since  no 
anchors  could  have  held  her  so  long  had  the  masts  stood.  By 
the  help  of  jury-masts,  erected  after  the  gale,  the  Ariel  return- 
ed to  L'Orient." 

This  terrible  gale  was  felt  over  nearly  all  Europe.  Jones  spoke 
thus  of  it  in  a  letter  to  the  Presidente  D'Ormoy,  dated  Octo- 
ber 16th.     "  By  the  enclosed  declaration  of  my  officers,  you 
will  see,  my  dear  madam,  that  I  was  in  a  ticklish  situation  in 
the  moment  while  you  were  employed  in  writing  to  me  on  the 
9th  ultimo.     It  is  impossible  to  be  more  sensible  than  I  am  of 
the  obligation  conferred  on  me  by  your  attentions  and  kind  re- 
membrance,  joined  to  that  of  the  belle  comtesse,  your  fair  daugh- 
ters, and  the  amiable  ladies  and  gentlemen  of  your  society.     1 
have  returned  without  laurels,  and,  what  is  worse,  without 
having  been  able  to  render  service  to  the  glorious  cause  of  lib- 
erty.    I  know  not  why  Neptune  was  in  such  anger,  unless  he 
thought  it  an  affront  in  me  to  appear  on  his  ocean  with  so  in- 
significant a  force.     It  is  certain,  that  till  the  night  of  the  8th, 
I  did  not  fully  conceive  the  awful  majesty  of  tempest  and  of 
shipwreck.  I  can  give  you  no  just  idea  of  the  tremendous  scene 
that  nature  then  presented,  which  surpassed  the  reach  even  of 
poetic  fancy  and  the  pencil.     I  believe  no  ship  was  ever  before 
saved  from  an  equal  danger  off  the  point  of  the  Penmark  rocks. 
I  am  extremely  sorry  that  the  young  English  lady  you  mention 
should  have  imbibed  the  national  hatred  against  me.     I  have 
had  proofs,  that  many  of  the  first  and  finest  ladies  of  that 
nation  are  my  friends.     Indeed,  I  cannot  imagine  why  any  fair 
lady  should  be  my  enemy,  since,  upon  the  large  scale  of  univer- 


296  PAUL    JONES. 

sal  philanthropy,  I  feel,  acknowledge,  and  bend  before  the  sove- 
reign power  of  beauty.  The  English  nation  may  hate  me, 
but  /  will  force  them  to  esteem  me  too" 

Writing  to  Franklin,  he  said:  "I  owe  the  warmest  thanks  to 
the  spirited  and  unremitting  assistance  of  my  officers,  who  be- 
haved with  a  steady,  composed  courage,  that  does  them  the 
highest  honour ;  and  I  have  no  fault  to  find  with  the  conduct  of 
any  person  under  my  command.  They  all  behaved  remarkably 
well.  The  gentlemen  passengers  showed  a  manly  spirit,  and 
true  greatness  of  mind,  even  when  death,  in  all  its  pomp,  stared 
them  in  the  face ;  and  I  am  sure  not  one  among  them  ever 
expected  to  see  a  returning  sun." 

To  Dr.  Bancroft  he  wrote  as  follows :  "  I  am,  my  dear 
sir,  returned  to  France  without  laurels,  and,  which  is  worse, 
without  having  been  able  to  render  service  to  our  cause.  I  must 
refer  you  to  Count  de  Vauban,  the  bearer  of  this  letter,  for 
a  description  of  the  late  storm.  I  shall  only  say,  it  far  ex- 
ceeded all  my  former  ideas  of  tempest.  We  must  console 
ourselves  that  no  lives  were  lost — an  event  remarkably  fortu- 
nate under  such  circumstances.  You  have,  no  doubt,  received 
news  from  America.  I  have  seen  some  of  the  papers,  but  find 
nothing  very  agreeable,  except  the  address  of  the  assembly  of 
Rhode  Island  to  the  Count  de  Rochambeau  and  the  answer. 
Lee  had  reached  Philadelphia  the  night  before  one  of  Captain 
Hall's  passengers  left  it ;  but  we  know  nothing  farther,  except 
that  no  guns  were  fired,  no  bells  were  rung,  nor  bonfires  made 
in  consequence  of  so  great  an  event !  Your  effects  are  dry  and 
safe,  though  many  of  our  things  are  damaged,  I  mean  our  cloth- 
ing, and  books,  &c.  Part  of  the  powder,  arms,  and  bread,  &c. 
are  wet.  Count  de  Vauban  behaved  remarkably  well,  and 
appears  to  me  to  be  a  very  worthy  character.  He  is  determined 
to  use  his  interest  with  the  Duke  de  Orleans,  that  the  Terpsicore, 
may  be  substituted  for  the  Ariel." 

The  arrival  of  the  Alliance  in  America,  referred  to  in  this 
letter,  had  been  announced  to  Franklin  by  Dr.  Cooper  of  Bos- 
ton, who  wrote  to  him  on  the  8th  September,  as  follows. 


PAUL   JONES.  297 

"  The  Alliance  arrived  here  some  weeks  ago,  with  Dr.  Lee, 
who  is  still  in  town.  This  vessel  appears  to  me  to  have  left 
France  in  an  unjustifiable  manner,  though  I  cannot  yet  obtain 
the  particular  circumstances.  Landais  did  not  hold  his  com- 
mand through  the  voyage,  which  was  either  relinquished  by  him 
or  wrested  from  him.  All  the  passengers,  as  well  as  officers  and 
sailors,  are  highly  incensed  against  him,  and  Dr.  Lee  as  much 
as  any  one.  A  court  of  inquiry  is  now  sitting  upon  this  matter, 
in  which  the  Doctor  has  given  a  full  evidence  against  the  cap- 
tain, which  represents  him  as  insane" 

The  result  of  this  court  of  inquiry  was,  that  Landais  was  dis- 
missed from  the  service  of  the  United  States.  Jones  not  being 
in  America  to  substantiate  them,  the  more  serious  charges 
were  not  urged  against  him,  and  he  was  consigned  to  insig- 
nificance. 

It  was  found  on  examination,  that  the  arms  on  board  of  the 
Ariel,  which  were  the  most  valuable  part  of  her  stores,  were  so 
much  damaged  that  it  was  necessary  to  unship  and  leave  them ; 
and  she  was  so  much  disabled  that,  though  Jones  wrote  to 
Franklin,  on  the  13th  October,  that  the  repairs  had  been  com- 
menced with  great  activity,  by  the  assistance  of  the  commandant 
of  the  marine,  she  was  not  ready  for  sea  until  December.  The 
new  expenses  thus  incurred  tried  severely  the  patience  of  the 
prudent  Franklin,  and  he  directed  the  necessary  advances  to  be 
made  with  a  heavy  heart.  He  was  again  obliged  to  expostulate 
with  the  commodore.  Jones  used  every  effort,  through  his 
friends  at  court,  to  obtain  the  Terpsicore,  and  endeavoured  to 
induce  Mr.  Silas  Deane,  and  Dr.  Bancroft  to  assist  him  in  his 
application  to  the  Marquis  de  Castries,  who  was  now  minister 
of  the  marine.  But,  he  says  in  his  Journal,  "  the  noblemen,  on 
whose  interest  he  had  chiefly  depended  being  absent,  the  appli- 
cation failed."  The  Terpsicore  was  destined  to  carry  de- 
spatches to  the  East  Indies. 

In  writing  to  the  new  minister,  he  took  the  opportunity  of 
paying  his  compliments  to  him,  on  his  induction  into  office. 
"  Permit  me,  my  lord,  to  congratulate  your  excellency  on  the 

37 


298  PAUL    JONES. 

happy  choice  his  majesty  has  made,  in  appointing  a  disinterest- 
ed patriot  of  your  liberal  mind  and  comprehensive  understand- 
ing, to  govern  the  royal  navy  of  this  kingdom.  Believe  me,  my 
lord,  I  anticipate  with  a  heart-felt  pleasure,  the  happy  events  of 
your  administration ;  and  I  shall,  rejoice,  indeed,  to  be  found 
worthy  of  your  excellency's  protection,  and  to  be  made  instru- 
mental, under  your  direction,  in  concert  with  the  Congress,  to 
put  an  honourable  end  to  this  war."  He  transmitted  a  copy  of 
a  project  he  had  laid  before  M.  de  la  Sartine,  in  May  previous, 
and  about  which  he  had  recently  written  to  the  Count  de  Mau- 
repas,  prime  minister  ;  which  was  to  be  executed  with  the  aid 
of  such  frigates  as  he  could  procure  in  America.  Writing  to 
the  Due  de  la  Rochefoucauld,  by  the  next  post,  he  says :  "  I 
hope  so  great  and  noble  minded  a  man,  as  universal  fanie  calls 
the  Marquis  de  Castries,  will  either  adopt  my  plan,  or  some 
better  one,  whereby  I  can  effectually  prove  my  gratitude  to 
France,  and  promote  the  interest  of  the  common  cause." 

By  a  letter  addressed  to  the  board  of  admiralty,  on  the  26th 
October,  it  appears  that  at  this  time  a  difficulty  took  place,  on 
the  score  of  rank,  between  Commodore  Jones  and  the  celebra- 
ted Captain  Truxtun.  He  says  :  "  I  send  a  letter  I  received 
from  Mr.  Truxtun,  the  master  of  the  Independence,  of  Philadel- 
phia, dated  the  24th,  with  my  answer.  Yesterday  and  to-day 
he  has  had  the  insolence  to  hoist  a  broad  pendant,  notwithstand- 
ing. Is  not  this  bidding  defiance  to  Congress  and  the  conti- 
nental flag  ?  Congress  will  judge  what  punishment  is  equal  to 
such  a  crime,  when  committed  in  sight  of  the  flag  and  forts  of 
an  illustrious  ally."  The  letters  referred  to  are  missing,  ac- 
cording to  the  marginal  note  in  the  certified  copy  of  the  fore- 
going. Captain  Truxtun,  according  to  the  Naval  Chronicles, 
was  sailing  in  a  private  armed  ship,  and  had  only  the  commis- 
sion of  a  letter  of  marque.  Whether  any  further  notice  was 
taken  of  this  incident,  we  are  unable  to  say. 

Very  wisely  deeming  it  expedient  to  carry  with  him  to  Ame- 
rica the  strongest  testimonials  of  the  approbation  of  his  services 
by  the  French  court,  Jones  intimated  to  the  new  minister,  that 


PAUL   JONES.  299 

a  confirmation  by  him,  of  the  letter  written  in  his  favour  by  M.  de 
la  Sartine,  in  May  previous,  would  give  him  cause  for  gratitude. 
At  the  minister's  desire,  Mr.  Genet  informed  him,  that  the  let- 
ter in  question  was  the  act  of  the  king  in  council ;  and  would 
rather  be  weakened  than  confirmed  by  any  additional  cer- 
tificate. 

No  prize  money  had  as  yet  been  forthcoming.  On  the  24th 
of  November,  Jones  wrote  to  M.  le  Ray  de  Chaumont  as  fol- 
lows :  "If you  have  received  the  produce  of  the  sale  of  the 
prizes,  taken  last  year  by  the  American  squadron  then  under 
my  command,  I  request  you  to  pay  the  part  thereof  belonging 
to  the  officers  and  crews  of  the  Bon  Homme  Richard  and  the 
/Vlliance,  into  the  hands  of  Messrs.  Gourlade  and  Moylan,  their 
legal  agents,  &c."  The  demand,  it  will  be  observed,  was 
made  upon  a  contingency.  Jones  desired  that  his  own  share  of  the 
prize  money,  both  as  chief  of  the  squadron  and  captain  of  the 
Bon  Homme  Richard,  might  be  paid  to  Dr.  Franklin  and  Dr. 
Bancroft,  his  lawful  attornies ;  and  reclaimed  payment  of  the 
wages  due  to  the  seamen  of  the  Bon  Homme  Richard,  who 
had  been  forcibly  carried  away  in  the  Alliance.  These  wages, 
it  will  be  remembered,  Franklin  thought  ought  to  be  paid  in 
America.  Jones  wrote  to  the  same  purport,  to  the  Marquis  de 
Castries,  on  the  same  day.  In  relation  to  this  matter  of  the 
prize  money,  it  has  not  been  heretofore  explicitly  stated,  that 
the  few  prizes  sent  into  the  ports  of  France  by  the  expedition, 
before  it  entered  the  Texel,  had  been  sold,  and  the  proceeds 
remitted,  a  year  previously,  to  M.  Chaumont,  upon  his  order, 
by  Messrs.  Gourlade  and  Moylan.  Jones  wrote  to  the  minister, 
"  By  virtue  of  the  authority  I  had  received  from  government, 
my  honour  was  pledged  to  see  these  men  justly  paid.  1  have 
already  suffered  many  reflections  on  their  account,  and  I  beseech 
your  excellency  to  order  them  immediate  payment." 

Dr.  Franklin  had  been  confined  to  his  bed,  at  this  time,  for 
some  weeks.  He  wrote  to  Jones  on  the  4th  December,  telling 
him,  "  I  shall  strongly  solicit  the  payment  of  the  prize  money, 
which  I  understand  is  not  yet  received  from  the  king.  I  hope 


300  PAUL   JONES. 

soon  to  see  an  end  of  that  affair,  which  has  met  with  so  many 
unaccountable  obstructions.  I  enclose  despatches  for  Congress, 
which  are  to  be  sunk  in  case  of  danger.  I  wish  you  to  make 
the  best  of  your  way  to  America,  and  that  you  may  have  a  pros 
perous  voyage."  By  waiting  for  further  despatches  which 
M.  Gourlade  informed  him  were  to  be  sent,  Jones  lost  a  favour- 
able wind,  and  did  not  sail  until  the  18th  of  this  month.  As 
before,  he  made  his  valedictory  compliments  to  Madame  la 
Presidente  d'Ormoy.  In  his  letter  he  says  :  "  1  am  much  flat- 
tered by  your  having  mentioned  me  to  so  great  a  man  as  the 
king  of  Prussia — the  world  will  ever  treat  his  opinion  with  the 
highest  respect." 

On  the  18th  December,  he  says  in  his  Journal,  he  "  bade 
adieu  to  the  beloved  nation  of  France  ;  where,  though  he  had 
met  with  some  difficulties,  he  had  many  reasons  to  be  satisfied, 
and  was  charmed  with  the  courteous  behaviour  that  so  nobly 
marked  the  character  of  that  generous-minded  people.  *  *  *  * 
Having  important  despatches  on  board,  and  being  besides  much 
lumbered,  he  had  determined  to  steer  directly  for  America,  and 
wished  rather  to  avoid  than  seek  after  the  enemy."  He  did, 
however,  meet  the  enemy,  and  gained  another  victory,  though 
the  fruits  of  it  were  lost  by  baseness.  With  his  account  of  this 
action,  from  the  same  journal,  we  will  close  the  first  part  of  this 
compilation. 

"  After  a  variety  of  rencounters,  he,  in  the  latitude  26°  north, 
and  longitude  of  Barbadoes,  met  with  a  remarkably  fast  sailing 
frigate  belonging  to  the  enemy's  navy.  Captain  Jones  endea- 
voured to  avoid  speaking  with  that  ship,  and  as  the  night  ap- 
proached, he  hoped  to  succeed,  notwithstanding  her  superior 
sailing.  He  was,  however,  mistaken ;  for  next  morning  the  ships 
were  at  a  less  distance  asunder  than  they  had  been  the  evening 
before,  although  during  the  night  the  officers  of  the  watch  had 
always  informed  Captain  Jones  the  sail  continued  out  of  sight. 
An  action  now  became  unavoidable,  and  the  Ariel  was  prepared 
for  it.  Every  thing  was  thrown  overboard  that  interfered  with 
the  defence  and  safety  of  the  ship.  Captain  Jones  took  par- 


PAUL   JONES.  301 

ticular  care,  by  the  management  of  sails  and  helm,  to  prevent 
the  enemy  from  discovering  the  force  of  the  Ariel,  and  worked 
her  so  well  as  not  to  discover  any  warlike  appearance  or  prepa- 
ration. In  the  afternoon,  the  Ariel  fired  now  and  then  a  light 
stern- chaser  at  the  enemy  from  the  quarter-deck,  and  continued 
to  crowd  sail  as  if  very  much  alarmed.  This  had  the  desired 
effect,  and  the  enemy  pursued  with  the  greater  eagerness. 
Captain  Jones  did  not  suffer  the  enemy  to  come  close  up  till 
the  approach  of  night,  when,  having  well  examined  his  force, 
he  shortened  sail,  to  meet  his  approach.  When  the  two  ships 
came  within  hail  of  each  other  they  both  hoisted  English  colours. 
The  person  whose  duty  it  was  to  hoist  the  pendant  on  board 
the  Ariel  had  not  taken  care  to  make  the  other  end  of  the  hal- 
liards fast,  to  haul  it  down  again  to  change  the  colours.  This 
prevented  Jones  from  an  advantageous  mano3uvre  he  had  in- 
tended, and  obliged  him  to  let  the  enemy  range  up  along  the 
lee-side  of  the  Ariel,  where  he  saw  a  battery  lighted  for  action. 
A  conversation  now  took  place  between  the  two  ships,  which 
lasted  near  an  hour  ;  by  which  Captain  Jones  learned  the  situ- 
ation of  the  enemy's  affairs  in  America.  The  captain  of  the 
enemy's  ship  said  his  name  was  John  Pindar.  His  ship  had 
been  constructed  by  the  famous  Mr.  Peck  of  Boston,  built  at 
Newburyport,  owned  by  Mr.  Tracey  of  that  place,  commanded 
by  Captain  Hopkins,  the  son  of  the  late  Commodore  Hopkins, 
and  had  been  taken  and  fitted  out  at  New  York,  and  named 
the  Triumph,  by  Admiral  Rodney.  Captain  Jones  told  him  he 
must  put  out  his  boat,  and  come  on  board  and  show  his  com- 
mission, to  prove  whether  or  not  he  really  did  belong  to  the 
British  navy.  To  this  he  made  some  excuses,  because  Captain 
Jones  had  not  told  him  who  he  was  ;  and  his  boat,  he  said,  was 
very  leaky.  Captain  Jones  told  him  to  consider  the  danger  of 
refusing.  Captain  Pindar  said  he  would  answer  for  twenty 
guns,  and  that  himself  and  every  one  of  his  people  had  shown 
themselves  Englishmen.  Captain  Jones  said  he  woulc  allow 
him  five  minutes  only  to  make  his  reflection.  That  time  being 
elapsed,  Captain  Jones  backed  a  little  in  the  weather-quarter 


302  PAUL   JONES. 

of  the  enemy,  ran  close  under  her  Stern,  hoisted  American 
colours,  and  being  within  short  pistol  shot  on  the  lee-beam  of 
the  enemy,  began  to  engage.     It  was  past  seven  o'clock,  and 
as  no  equal  force  ever  exceeded  the  vigorous  and  regular  fire  of 
the  Ariel's  battery  and  tops,  the  action  while  'it  lasted  made  a 
glorious  appearance.     The  enemy  made  a  feeble  resistance  for 
about  ten  minutes.     He  then  struck  his  colours.     The  enemy 
then  begged  for  quarter,  and  said  half  his  men  were  killed. 
The  Ariel's  fire  ceased ;  and  the  crew,  as  usual  after  a  victory, 
gave  cries  of  joy.      To  '  show  themselves   Englishmen.'  the 
enemy  filled  their  sails,  and  got  on  the  Ariel's  weather-bow  be- 
fore the  cries  of  joy  had  ended  on  board  the  Ariel.     Captain 
Jones,  suspecting  the  base  design  of  the  enemy,  immediately 
set  every  sail  he  could  to  prevent  her  escape;  but  the  enemy 
had  so  much  advantage  in  sailing,  that  the  Ariel  could  not  keep 
up,  and  they  soon  got  out  of  gun  shot.     The  English  captain 
may  properly  be  called  a  knave,  because,  after  he  surrendered 
his  ship,  begged  for,  and  obtained  quarter,  he  basely  ran  away, 
contrary  to  the  laws  of  naval  war  and  the  practice  of  civilized 
nations.     A  conspiracy  was  discovered  among  the  English  part 
of  the  Ariel's  crew   immediately  after   sailing  from  France. 
During  the  voyage  every  officer,  and  even  the  passengers,  had 
been  constantly  armed,  and  kept  a  regular  watch,  besides  a 
constant  guard  with  fixed  bayonets.     After  the  action  with  the 
Triumph,  the  plot  was  so  far  discovered,  that  Captain  Jones 
confined  twenty  of  the  ringleaders  in  irons  till  his  arrival.  Cap- 
tain Jones  arrived  at  Philadelphia  on  the  18th  February,  1781, 
having  been  absent  from  America  three  years,  three  months, 
and  eighteen  days." 


END  OF  PART  I. 


APPENDIX. 


PART  I. 


No.  I. — page  58. 

THE  following  extracts  of  letters,  are  published  to  show  that  there  was  no  malice 
or  bad  blood  on  the  part  of  Commodore  Hopkins  towards  Captain  Jones,  at  the  dates 
they  bear.  The  first  relates  to  another  transaction,  of  the  same  character  as  that  for 
which  the  suit  was  brought.  They  were  of  course  not  popular,  under  the  circuin- 
stancesat  the  time.  What  became  of  the  prosecution  referred  to  does  not  appear;  but 
it  was  no  doubt  compromised  with  little  comparative  expense  to  any  person. 

"  Newport,  October  18, 1776. 
"Sm, 

"  The  owners  of  Captain  Demiss'  sloop,  have  delivered  two  of  the  men  which 
signed  their  articles,  and  have  given  sufficient  security  that  they  will  not  carry  away 
any  of  the  men  belonging  to  the  fleet.  If  you  find  any  men  on  board,  that  do  belong 
to  the  fleet,  take  them  out,  and  then  discharge  the  sloop ;  as  there  are  some  of  the 
owners  that  are  men  of  honour,  and  will  not  do  any  such  thing ;  it  will  be  hard  that 
they  should  suffer  for  one  man,  that  has  behaved  out  of  character.  So  that,  upon  the 
whole,  I  think  it  best  to  let  the  sloop  and  her  people  go. 

"  I  am  your  friend  and  humble  servant, 

"  EZEK  HOPKINS,  Commander  in  Chief." 
"  To  John  P.  Jones,  Esquire,  Commander  of  the  Providence. 
"  Hoysted  Hacker,  Esquire,  Commander  of  the  Hamdcn." 

"  Providence,  December  18,  1776. 

****** 

"  If  my  son  Ezek  wants  to  come  home,  to  see  his  friends,  you  will  be  kind  enougli 
to  give  him  leave.  The  owners  of  the  privateer  made  a  great  noise  about  your  taking 
the  men  out  of  her,  and  have  brought  an  action  ;  but  I  think  they  will  make  nothing 
of  it.  We  have  likewise  brought  an  action  against  Captain  Field  for  taking  our 


No.  IL— page  59. 

The  following  letter,  addressed  to  the  Honourable  Robert  Morris,  is  published 
entire,  because  it  comprehends  the  substance,  and  in  many  instances  the  literal  ex- 
pressions of  Jones,  in  several  other  letters,  private  and  official,  relating  to  his  own 


304  APPENDIX. 

opinion  of  what  should  be  the  organization  of  the  navy ;  and  giving  a  history  of  the 
difficulties  which  arose  in  the  infant  fleet  of  the  country,  concerning  rank.  The  matter 
of  these  explanations  is  several  times  referred  to  in  the  text,  both  of  the  first  and  second 
part. 

Philadelphia,  October  10,  1783. 
SIR, 

It  is  the  custom  of  nations,  on  the  return  of  peace,  to  honour,  promote,  and  reward, 
such  officers  as  have  served  through  the  war  with  the  greatest  "  zeal,  prudence,  and 
intrepidity."    And  since  my  country  has,  after  an  eight  years'  war,  attained  the  ines- 
timable blessing  of  peace  and  the  sovereignty  of  an  extensive  empire ;.  I  presume  that, 
(as  I  have  constantly  and  faithfully  served  through  the  Revolution,  and  at  the  same 
time  supported  it,  in  a  degree,  with  my  purse,)  I  may  be  allowed  to  lay  my  grievances 
before  you,  as  the  head  of  the  marine.     I  will  hope,  sir,  through  you,  to  meet  with 
redress  from  Congress.     Rank,  which  opens  the  door  to  glory,  is  too  near  the  heart  of 
every  officer  of  true  military  feeling,  to  be  given  up  in  favour  of  any  other  man  who 
has  not,  by  the  achievement  of  some  brilliant  action,  or  by  known  and  superior 
abilities,  merited  such  preference.     If  this  be  so,  how  must  I  have  felt,  since,  by  the 
second  table  of  captains  in  the  navy,  adopted  by  Congress,  on  the  10th  of  October,  1776, 
I  was  superseded  in  favour  of  thirteen  persons,  two  of  whom  were  my  junior  lieu 
tenants  at  the  beginning;  the  rest  were  only  commissioned  into  the  continental  navy 
on  that  day ;  and,  if  they  had  any  superior  abilities,  these  were  not  then  known,  nor 
have  since  been  proved !  I  am  the  oldest  sea  officer  (except  Captain  Whipple)  on  the 
Journal,  and  under  the  commission  of  Congress,  remaining  in  the  service.     In  the 
year,  1775,  when  the  navy  was  established,  some  of  the  gentlemen  by  whom  I  was 
superseded,  were  applied  to,  to  embark  in  the  first  expedition ;  but  they  declined. 
Captain  Whipple  has  often  and  lately  told  me,  they  said  to  him,  "  they  did  not  choose  to 
be  hanged."    It  is  certain  the  hazard  at  the  first  was  very  great ;  and  some  respectable 
gentleman,  by  whom  I  am  superseded,  accepted  the  appointments  of  captain  and  of 
lieutenant  of  a  provincial  vessel  for  the  protection  of  the  river,  after  our  fleet  had  sailed 
from  it ;  and  on  board  of  which  they  had  refused  to  embark,  though  I  pretend  not  to 
know  their  reason.     But  the  face  of  affairs  having  changed,  as  we  ripened  into  the 
declaration  of  independence  in  1776,  their  apprehensions  subsided ;  and  in  a  letter  I 
received  from  the  late  Mr.  Joseph  Hewes,  of  Congress,  and  of  the  marine  committee, 
dated  at  Philadelphia,  May  the  26th,  1776,  and  directed  to  me  as  captain  of  the  Pro- 
vidence at  New  York,  he  says,  "  You  would  be  surprised  to  hear  what  a  vast  number  of 
applications,  are  continually  making  for  officers  of  the  new  frigates,  especially  for  the 
command.    The  strong  recommendations  from  those  provinces  where  any  frigates  are 
building,  have  great  weight." 

He  adds,  "  My  utmost  endeavours  shall  be  exerted  to  serve  you ;  from  a  conviction 
that  your  merit  entitles  you  to  promotion,  and  that  you  ought  to  command  some  who 
were  placed  higher  than  yourself."  I  ask,  sir,  did  these  "  recommendations"  plead 
more  successful  than  the  merit  of  all  the  gallant  men  who  first  braved  the  ocean  in  the 
cause  of  America  7  Your  candour  must  answer,  Yes.  What  hapless  prospect  then 
have  those,  who  can  only  claim  from  past,  though  applauded  services  ?  Credit,  it  is 
alleged,  has  been,  however,  taken  in  this  Revolution  for  "  unparalleled  heroism."  I 


APPENDIX.  305 

a.n  sorry  for  it ;  for  great  as  onr  pretensions  to  heroism  may  be,  yet  modesty  becomes 
young  nations  a*  well  as  young  men.  But  the  first  beginning  of  our  navy  was,  as  navies 
now  rank,  so  singularly  small,  that  I  am  of  opinion,  it  has  no  precedent  in  history.  Was  it 
a  proof  of  madness  in  the  first  corps  of  sea  officers  to  have,  at  so  critical  a  period, 
launched  out  on  the  ocean,  with  only  two  armed  merchant  ships,  two  armed  brigan- 
tines,  and  one  armed  sloop,  to  make  war  against  such  a  power  as  Great  Britain  T 
They  had,  perhaps,  in  proportion  to  their  number,  as  much  sense  as  the  present  table  of 
officers  can  boast  of;  and  it  has  not  yet  been  proved,  that  they  did  not  understand,  at 
least  as  well  their  duty. 

Their  first  expedition  was  far  more  glorious  than  any  other  that  has  been  since  at- 
tempted from  our  coast.  Every  officer  on  that  service  merited  promotion,  who  was 
capable  of  receiving  it.  And,  if  there  was  an  improper  man  placed  over  them  as 
commander  in  chief,  was  that  a  reason  to  slight  or  disgrace  the  whole  corps  ?  Has  the 
subsequent  military  conduct  of  those  officers,  by  whom  the  first  corps  of  sea  officers 
were  superseded,  justified  the  preference  they  had  to  command  the  new  frigates  ?  If  it 
has  not,  what  shall  we  say  in  favour  of  the  precedence,  which,  "  Repugnant  to  an  Act 
of  Congress,  of  the  22d  of  December,  1775,"  and  contrary  to  all  rule  or  example,  was 
given  them  in  the  second  table  of  naval  rank,  adopted  the  10th  of  October,  1776  ? 
Could  any  thing  have  been  more  humiliating  than  this  to  sea  officers  appointed  and 
commissioned  in  1775 '?  Would  it  not  have  been  more  kind  to  have  dismissed  them 
from  the  service,  even  without  assigning  a  reason  for  so  doing  ?  Before  any  second 
arrangement  of  naval  rank  had  been  made,  perhaps  it  would  have  been  good  policy, 
to  have  commissioned,  five  or  seven  old  mariners,  who  had  seen  war,  to  have  ex- 
amined the  qualifications  of  the  candidates,  especially,  those  who  made  their  conditions 
and  sought  so  earnestly  after  the  command  of  the  new  frigates.  Those  commissioners 
might  also  have  examined  the  qualifications  of  the  first  corps  of  sea  officers,  promoted 
such  as  were  capable  of  it,  and  struck  from  the  list  such  as  were  unequal  to  the  com- 
mission they  bore,  &c.  Thus,  by  giving  precedence  in  rank  to  all  the  captains  who 
had  served  and  were  thought  worthy  of  being  continued ;  and  also  to  all  lieutenants 
promoted  to  the  rank  of  captains,  for  their  meritorious  services  and  fit  qualifications, 
justice  might  have  been  done  both  to  individuals  and  to  the  public.  It  has  been  said, 
with  a  degree  of  contempt,  by  some  of  the  gentlemen  who  came  into  the  continental 
navy,  the  second  year  of  the  war,  that  "  I  was  only  a  lieutenant  at  the  beginning;" 
and  prny,  what  were  they  when  I  was  out  on  the  ocean  in  that  character  ?  They  pay 
me  a  compliment.  To  be  diffident,  is  not  always  a  proof  of  ignorance,  but  sometimes 
the  contrary.  I  was  offered  a  captain's  commission  at  the  first,  to  command  the  Pro- 
vidence, but  declined  it.  Let  it,  however,  be  remembered,  that  there  were  three  grades 
of  sea  lieutenants  established  by  the  Act  of  Congress  of  the  22d  of  December,  1775; 
and  as  I  had  the  honour  to  be  placed  at  the  head  of  the  first  of  those  grades,  it  is  not 
quite  fair  in  those  gentlemen  to  confound  me  with  the  last ;  yet  when  I  came  to  try 
my  skill,  I  am  not  ashamed  to  own,  I  did  not  find  myself  perfect  in  the  duties  of  a  first 
lieutenant.  However,  I  by  no  means  admit,  that  any  one  of  the  gentlemen  who  so 
earnestly  sought  after  rank  and  the  command  of  the  new  frigates  the  next  year,  was  at 
tho  beginning  able  to  teach  me  any  part  of  the  duty  of  a  sea  officer.  Since  that  time 
it  is  well  known,  there  has  been  no  comparison  between  their  meant  of  acquiring  mili- 
tary marino  knowledge  and  mine. 

38 


306  APPENDIX. 

If  midnight  sf  udy,  and  the  instruction  of  the  greatest  and  most  learned  sea  officer*, 
can  have  given  mo  advantages,  I  am  not  withont  them.  I  confess,  however,  I  am  yet 
to  learn.  It  is  the  work  of  many  years'  study  and  experience,  to  acquire  the  high  de- 
gree of  science  necessary  for  a  great  sea  officer.  Cruising  after  merchant  ships,  the 
•ervice  en  which  our  frigates  have  generally  been  employed,  affords,  I  may  say,  no  part 
of  the  knowledge  necessary  for  conducting  fleets  and  their  operations.  There  is  now, 
perhaps,  as  much  difference  between  a  single  battle  between  two  ships,  and  an  engage- 
ment between  two  fleets,  as  there  is  between  a  single  duel  and  a  ranged  battle  between 
two  armies.  I  became  captain,  by  right  of  service  and  succession,  and  by  order  and 
I  commission  of  his  excellency  Ezek  Hopkins,  Esq.  commander  in  chief,  the  10th  day 
of  May,  1776,  at  which  time  the  captain  of  the  Providence  was  broke  and  dismissed 
from  the  navy,  by  a  court  martial.  Having  arrived  at  Philadelphia,  with  a  little  convoy 
from  Boston,  soon  after  the  declaration  of  independence,  President  Hancock  gave  me 
a  captain's  commission  under  the  United  States,  dated  the  8th  day  of  August,  1776.  I 
did  not,  at  the  time,  think  that  this  was  doing  me  justice  ;  as  it  did  not  correspond  with 
the  date  of  my  appointment  by  the  commander  in  chief.  It  was,  however,  I  presumed, 
the  first  naval  commission  granted  under  the  United  States.  And  as  a  resolution  of 
Congress  had  been  passed  the  17th  day  of  April,  1776,  "  that  the  nomination  of  captains 
should  not  determine  rank,  which  was  to  be  settled  before  commissions  were  granted." 
My  commission  of  the  8th  of  August,  1776  must,  by  that  resolution,  take  rank  of  every 
commission  dated  the  10th  of  October,  1776.  My  duty  brought  me  again  to  Phila- 
delphia in  April,  1777 ;  and  President  Hancock  then  told  me  that  new  naval  commis- 
sions were  ordered  to  be  distributed  to  the  officers. 

He  requested  me  to  show  him  the  captain's  commission  he  had  given  me  the  year 
before.  I  did  so.  He  then  desired  me  to  leave  it  with  him  a  day  or  two,  till  he  could 
find  a  leisure  moment  to  fill  up  a  new  commission.  I  made  no  difficulty.  When  I 
waited  on  him  the  day  before  my  departure,  to  my  great  surprise,  he  put  into  my  hands 
a  commission,  dated  the  10th  day  of  October,  1776,  and  numbered  eighteen  on  the 
margin  !  I  told  him  that  was  not  what  I  expected,  and  requested  my  former  commis 
sion.  He  turned  over  various  papers  on  the  table,  and  at  last  told  me  he  was  sorry 
to  have  lost  or  mislaid  it.  He  paid  me  many  compliments  on  the  service «  I  had  per- 
formed in  vessels  of  little  force,  and  assured  me  no  officer  stood  higher  in  the  opinion 
of  Congress  than  myself;  a  proof  of  which,  he  said,  was  my  late  appointment  to  tho 
command  of  secret  expeditions,  with  five  sail  and  men  proportioned,  against  St.  Kitts, 
Pensacola,  Augustine,  dec.  That  the  table  of  naval  rank  that  had  been  adopted  the 
10th  of  October,  1776,  had  been  drawn  up  in  a  hurry,  arid  without  well  knowing  the 
different  merits  and  qualifications  of  the  officers;  but  it  was  the  intention  of  Congress 
to  render  impartial  justice,  and  always  to  honour,  promote,  and  reward  merit.  And,, 
as  to  myself,  that  I  might  depend  on  receiving  a  very  agreeable  appointment  soon  after 
my  return  to  Boston  ;  and,  until  I  was  perfectly  satisfied  respecting  my  rank,  I  should 
have  a  separate  command.  See  Paper  No.  1.  I  returned  to  Boston,  and  it  was  not 
long  before  I  received  orders  to  proceed  to  Europe  to  command  the  great  frigate  build- 
ing at  Amsterdam,  for  the  United  States;  then  called  the  Indicu,  and  since  the  South 
Carolina.  It  was  proposed  that  I  should  proceed  to  France  in  a  ship  belonging  to  that 
kingdom  ;  but,  some  difficulties  arising,  the  sloop  of  war  Ranger  of  eighteen  guns,  was 
put  under  my  comtnand  for  !hat  sen-ice,  and  to  serve  afterwards  as  a  tender  to  the 


APPENDIX.  307 

Indie n.  Political  reasons  defeated  the  plan,  after  I  had  met  our  commissioners  at 
Paris,  agreeable  to  their  order,  to  consult  on  the  ways  and  means  of  carrying  it  into 
execution.  I  returned  in  consequence  to  Nantes,  and  reassumed  the  command  of  the 
Ranger.  When  I  returned  from  Europe  and  my  sovereign  told  the  world,  that  some 
of  my  military  conduct  on  the  coast  of  England  had  been  "  attended  trith  circumstances 
so  brilliant  as  to  excite  general  applause  and  admiration ; "  when  the  honours  conferred 
on  me  by  his  most  Christian  majesty ;  to  wit,  a  gold  sword,  on  which  is  impressed 
the  highly  flattering  words,  "  Vindicate  Maris  Ludotirus  XVI.  Remu.nerai.or  Strenuo 
Vindici,"  and  emblems  of  the  alliance  between  the  United  States  and  France,  accom- 
panied with  the  order  and  patent  of  military  merit,  and  a  very  strong  and  parti- 
cular letter  of  recommendation  to  Congress  in  my  behalf,  No.  2,  were  declared 
by  them  to  be  "highly  acceptable ;"  when  I  was  thought  worthy  of  a  vote  of  thanks 
and  general  approbation  so  strong  and  comprehensive,  as  that  hereto  subjoined, 
in  Paper  No.  3,  I  was  far  from  thinking  that  such  pleasing  expressions  were  all  the 
gratification  I  had  to  expect.  The  committee  of  Congress  to  whom  was  referred 
my  general  examination  by  the  board  of  admiralty,  with  the  report  of  that  board 
thereon,  were  of  opinion  that  I  had  merited  a  gold  medal,  with  devices  declarative 
of  the  vote  of  thanks,  which  I  had  received  from  the  United  States  in  Congress 
assembled.  And  I  was  persuaded  that  I  should  also  be  promoted,  or  at  least  restored 
to  the  place  I  held  in  the  naval  line  of  rank  in  the  year  1775.  I  waited  patiently  Tor 
some  time ;  but  nothing  was  done  on  either  of  these  subjects.  Being  informed  by 
some  members  of  Congress,  that  it  was  necessary  I  should  present  my  claim  respect- 
ing rank  in  writing,  I  did  so,  in  a  letter  of  which  No.  4  is  a  copy,  addressed  to  his 
excellency  the  president  of  Congress,  the  28th  of  May,  1781.  My  application  was 
referred  to  a  special  committee  who,  as  I  have  been  informed  by  one  of  its  members, 
made  a  report  in  my  favour,  and  gave  as  their  opinion,  that  I  had  merited  to  be  pro- 
moted to  the  rank  of  rear  admiral.  Before  Congress  had  taken  up  the  report  an  appli- 
cation in  opposition  to  me,  was  made  by  two  of  the  captains  who  had  superseded  me. 
Upon  this  the  report  was  recommitted.  The  committee  once  more  reported  in  my 
favour;  but  without  giving  a  direct  opinion  respecting  my  promotion;  and  recom- 
mended the  appointment  of  a  commander  in  chief  of  the  navy,  as  may  be  seen  by  the 
annexed  copy,  No.  5,  of  that  report ;  which,  on  account  of  the  thinness  of  Congress, 
was  on  the  24th  of  August,  1781,  endorsed  -'Not  to  le  acted  upon."  It  is,  however, 
plain,  it  was  intended  to  be  taken  up  again,  when  a  proper  opportunity  presented 
itself;  otherwise  it  would  not  have  been  retained  on  the  files  of  Congress.  This  ap- 
pears also  by  the  extract  of  a  letter,  No.  G,  which  I  wrote  from  Portsmouth  in  New 
Hampshire,  and  the  answer,  No.  7.  that  I  received  from  the  honourable  John  Mathews, 
Esq.  who  was  chairman  of  the  committee  respect  ing  the  honorary  medal,  and  a  mem- 
ber of  the  committee  on  my  rank.  While  my  claim  for  rank  stood  recommitted  before 
the  committee,  I  was  unanimously  elected  by  ballot  in  Congress,  the  26th  of  June. 
1781,  to  command  the  America  of  74  guns ;  (and,  as  I  was  erroneously  informed. 
ready  to  launch  at  Portsmouth ;)  on  which  occasion  several  of  the  members  of  Congress 
told  me  as  their  opinion,  that  my  rank  was  thereby  settled  beyond  a  dispute  ;  because 
the  America  was  the  only  ship  in  the  service  "  of  40  guns  and  upwards ;"  and  Congress 
had  resolved  that  captains  of  ships  of  40  guns  and  upwards  should  rank  as  colonel*, 
and  captain*  of  ships  between  20  and  40  guns  as  lieutenant  colonels.  There  appeared 


308  APPENDIX. 

so  much  reason  and  justice  in  that  opinion,  that  I  wag  then  and  am  still  inclined  uj 
believe  it  was  not  without  good  foundation ;  for  certainly  there  is  no  comparison  o«- 
tween  the  trust  reposed  in  a  captain  of  the  line  and  a  captain  of  a  frigate  ;  and,  except 
in  England,  where  avarice  is  the  ruling  principle  of  the  corps,  tnere  is  no  equality 
between  their  distinct  ranks.  A  captain  of  the  line  must  at  this  day  be  a  tactician.  A 
captain  of  a  cruising  frigate  may  make  shift  without  having  ever  heard  of  the  naval 
tactic.  Until  I  arrived  in  France,  and  became  acquainted  with  that  great  tactician 
Count  D'Orvilliers  and  his  judicious  assistant  the  Chevalier  Du  Pavillion,  who  each 
of  them  honoured  me  with  instructions  respecting  the  science  of  governing  the  opera- 
tions and  police  of  a  fleet,  I  confess  I  was  not  sensible  how  ignorant  I  had  been  of 
naval  tactics. 

I  have  many  things  to  offer  respecting  the  formation  of  our  navy,  but  shall  reserve 
my  observations  upon  that  head  until  you  shall  have  leisure  to  attend  to  them,  and 
require  them  of  me.  I  have  had  the  honour  to  be  presented  with  copies  of  the  signals, 
tactics,  and  police,  that  have  been  adopted  under  the  different  admirals  of  France  and 
Spain  during  the  war;  and  I  have  in  my  last  campaign  seen  them  put  in  practice. 
While  I  was  at  Brest,  as  well  as  while  I  was  inspecting  the  building  of  the  America, 
as  I  bad  furnished  myself  with  good  authors,  I  applied  much  of  my  leisure  time  to  the 
study  of  naval  architecture  and  other  matters,  that  relate  to  the  establishment  and 
police  of  dock-yards,  &c.  (I,  however,  feel  myself  bound  to  say  again,  I  have  yet  much 
need  to  be  instructed.)  But  if,  such  as  I  am,  it  is  thought  I  can  be  useful  in  the  formation 
of  the  future  marine  of  America,  make  whole  my  honour,  and  I  am  so  truly  a  citizen  of 
the  United  States,  that  I  will  cheerfully  do  my  best  to  effect  that  great  object.  It  was 
my  fortune,  as  the  senior  of  the  first  lieutenants,  to  hoist  the  flag  of  America  the  first 
time  it  was  displayed.  Though  this  was  but  a  light  circumstance,  yet  I  feel  for  its 
honour  more  than  I  think  1  should  have  done  if  it  had  not  happened.  See  Paper 
No.  8.  I  drew  my  sword  at  the  beginning,  not  after  having  made  sinister  conditions 
but  purely  from  principle  in  the  glorious  cause  of  freedom ;  which  I  hope  has  been 
amply  evinced  by  my  conduct  during  the  Revolution.  I  hope  I  shall  be  pardoned  in 
saying,  it  will  not  be  expected,  after  having  fought  and  bled  for  the  purpose  of  con- 
tributing to  make  millions  happy  and  free,  that  I  should  remain  miserable  and  disho- 
noured by  being  superseded,  icithout  any  just  cause  assigned.  Permit  me  now,  sir,  to 
draw  your  particular  attention  to  the  following  points :  1st,  By  virtue  of  my  commission 
as  the  senior  of  the  first  lieutenants  of  the  American  navy,  I  stand  the  next  in  rank  to 
Captain  Abraham  Whipple,  who  is  the  only  one  of  my  senior  officers  now  remaining 
in  the  service.  2ndly,  By  the  commission  as  captain  tinder  the  United  States,  which  1 
received  from  the  hands  of  President  Hancock  at  the  door  of  the  chamber  of  Congress, 
dated  the  8th  day  of  August,  1776, 1  am  entitled  to  precede  all  the  captains  whose 
commissions  under  the  United  States  are  dated  the  10th  day  of  October,  following. 
3dly,  My  right  of  precedence  is  confirmed  by  the  Act  of  Congress  of  the  26th  of  June, 
1781,  appointing  me  to  the  command  of  the  America  of  74  guns,  Congress  having 
previously  resolved,  that  captains  of  ships  of  40  guns  and  upwards  should  rank  as 
colonels,  and  that  captains  of  ships  from  40  down  to  20  guns  should  only  rank  as  lieu- 
tenant colonels.  I  will  at  present  say  jjothing  of  those  pretensions  which  the  favour- 
able notice  and  recommendation  of  his  most  Christian  majesty  might  encourage  me  to 
form,  and  which  have  hitherto  proved  so  fruitless  to  me,  though  similar  recommenda- 


APPENDIX.  300 

trout  from  Congress  to  that  monarch  have  proved  so  efficacious  in  favour  of  .hose  who 
were  honoured  with  them.  Though  I  have  only  mentioned  twp  things  that  afflict  me, 
i.  e.  the  delay  of  a  decision  respecting  my  rank,  and  the  honorary  medal,  yet  I  have 
met  with  many  other  humiliations  in  the  service,  that  I  hive  borne  in  silence.  I  will 
just  mention  one  of  them.  When  the  America  was  presented  to  his  most  Christian 
majesty,  I  presume  it  would  not  have  been  inconsistent  with  that  act  of  my  sovereign, 
if  it  had  mentioned  my  name.  Such  little  attentions  to  the  military  pride  of  officers  are 
always  of  use  to  a  state,  and  cost  nothing.  In  the  present  instance,  it  could  have  been 
no  displeasing  circumstance,  but  the  contrary,  to  a  monarch  who  condescends  to 
honour  me  with  his  attention.  I  appeal  to  yourself,  sir,  whether,  after  being  unani- 
mously elected  to  command  the  first  and  only  American  ship  of  the  line,  my  conduct 
for  more  than  sixteen  months  while  inspecting  her  building  and  launching,  had  merited 
only  such  cold  neglect  ?  When  the  America  was  taken  from  me,  I  was  deprived  of  my 
tenth  command. 

Will  posterity  believe,  that  out  of  this  number  the  sloop  of  war  Ranger  was  the  bat 
I  was  ever  enabled  by  my  country  to  bring  into  actual  service  ?  If  I  have  been  instru- 
mental in  giving  the  American  flag  some  reputation  and  making  it  respectable  among 
European  nations,  will  yon  permit  me  to  say,  that,  it  is  not  because  I  have  been  honoured, 
by  my  country,  either  with  proper  means  or  proper  encouragement.  I  cannot  conclude 
this  letter  without  reminding  you  of  the  insult  offered  to  the  flag  of  America,  by  the 
court  of  Denmark ;  in  giving  up  to  England,  towards  the  end  of  the  year,  1779,  two 
large  letter  of  marque  ships  (the  one  the  Union,  from  London,  the  other  the  Betsy,  from 
Liverpool,)  that  had  entered  the  port  of  Bergen,  in  Norway,  as  my  prizes.  Those  two 
ships  mounted  22  guns  each,  and  were  valued,  as  I  have  been  told,  at  sixteen  hundred 
thousand  livres  Tournois.  I  acquit  myself  of  my  duty  by  giving  yoc  inis  information, 
nou>  when  the  sovereignty  and  independence  of  America  is  acknowledged  by  Great 
Britain;  and  I  trust  that  Congress  will  now  demand  and  obtain  proper  acknowledg- 
ments and  full  restitution  from  the  court  of  Denmark. 

I  have  the  honour  to  be,  with  the  greatest  respect,  sir,  your  most  obedient  and 
most  humble  servant, 

J.  PAUL  JOKES. 

Copy  of  a  report  of  a  committee  on  Captain  Paul  Jones'  letter  and  others.     Endorsed 
"August  24,  1781,  not  to  be  acted  upon." 

"  The  committee  to  whom  were  referred  the  application  of  Captain  John  Paul 
Jones ;  and  also  the  applications  of  Captain  James  Nicholson  and  Captain  Thomas 
Reed,  beg  leave  to  report, 

"  That  by  an  arrangement  of  the  captains  of  the  navy  which  was  adopted  by  Con- 
gress on  the  tenth  day  of  October,  A.  D.  1776,  Captain  James  Nicholson  was  placed 
first  in  rank,  Captain  Thomas  Reed  eighth,  and  Captain  John  Paul  Jones  the 
eighteenth. 

"  The  committee  cannot  fully  ascertain  the  rule  by  which  that  arrangement  wa* 
made,  as  the  relative  rank  was  not  conformable  to  the  times  of  appointment  or  dates  of 
commission,  and  seems  repugnant  to  a  resolution  of  Congress,  of  the  22d  of  December, 
1775-  It  appears  that  Captains  Whipple,  Barry,  Hollock,  and  Alexander,  were  ap- 
pointed captains  previous  to  either  of  ihe  applkants  ;  Captain  Nicholson  was  later 


310  APPENDIX. 

than  either,  excepting  Reed  ;  but  Captain  Nicholson  had  a  command  of  armed  vessel* 
under  the  authority  of  the  state  of  Maryland,  prior  to  his  being  adopted  in  the  conti 
nental  navy.  It  is,  therefore,  to  be  presumed  that  preference  was  given  to  him  on  that 
account.  Upon  the  whole,  the  committee  submit  to  Congress  whether  it  will  be  ad- 
visable to  alter  that  arrangement  ?  If  they  should,  Captain  Jones  will  now  stand  the 
fifth  captain,  if  respect  be  had  only  to  times  of  appointment  in  that  grade  ;  but  if  re- 
gard be  had  to  Captain  Jones'  being  a  lieutenant  in  the  navy  prior  to  the  appointment 
of  many  of  the  other  gentlemen,  he  would  then  stand  second  in  the  rank  of  captains, 
and  Whipple  first. 

"  The  committee  also  recommend  to  Congress  the  expediency  of  appointing  a 
commander  in  chief  of  the  navy,  in  the  place  of  the  late  Ezek  Hopkins.  Esq.  dis- 
missed." 

No.  HI.— page  63. 

The  observation  in  the  note  at  the  foot  of  the  page,  is  perhaps  a  superfluous  criticism 
on  Jones'  use  of  the  term  inherit.  He  had  recovered,  as  I  know  from  the  best  sources, 
several  thousand  pounds,  from  the  wreck  of  his  brother's  fortune  in  Virginia ;  and 
when  he  speaks  of  having  Jived  upon  fifty  pounds  for  more  than  a  year,  he  must  refer 
to  a  period  anterior  to  that  immediately  preceding.  It  is  not  known  what  amount  he 
had  received,  if  any,  at  this  time,  of  the  money  due  to  him  in  England  and  Tobago, 
mentioned  in  his  letter  to  Stuart  Mawey,  Esq.  He  was  more  than  1500  pounds  in 
advance  for  the  public  service,  before  he  left  America,  as  he  afterwards  states.  Ex- 
cepting an  inconsiderable  amount  of  prize  money,  wrung  from  the  hands  of  mercenary 
agents,  he  received  nothing  for  his  services  to  the  United  States,  previous  to  his  retam 
iu  the  Ariel,  in  1780.  There  can,  therefore,  be  no  doubt  that  he  hazarded  his  private 
resources  as  well  as  his  personal  safety,  in  the  cause  of  his  adopted  country;  and  it  does 
not  appear  that  he  or  his  representatives  were,  or  to  this  day  are,  more  fortunate  than 
others,  who  perilled  all  they  had,  in  the  question  of  our  country's  independence  in 
having  the  pecuniary  account  liquidated,  though  his  charges  for  disbursements  on 
account  of  the  government,  at  several  times  during  the  period  referred  to,  were  allowed 
He  had  also  his  portion  of  continental  money. 

No.  IV.— page  70. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  Revolutionary  war,  the  maritime  flag  seems  to  have  been, 
either  the  coat  of  arms  of  the  respective  colonies  under  whose  authority  vessels  were 
equipped,  or  to  have  depended  upon  the  whim  or  fancy  of  the  commanding  officer. 
Thus,  the  brig  Yankee  Hero,  of  Marblehead,  captured  after  an  obstinate  engagement 
by  the  Milford  frigate,  bore  a  pine  tree  in  a  white  field  ;  and  several  fitted  out  from 
New  York  bore  a  black  beaver. 

On  the  9th  of  February,  1776,  thirteen  months  after  Manly  had  been  scouring  the 
ocean  under  authority  of  the  colony  of  Massachusetts,  "  Col.  Gadsden  presented  to  Con- 
gress an  elegant  standard,  such  as  is  to  be  used  by  the  commander  in  chief  of  the 
American  navy  ;  being  a  yellow  field  with  a  lively  representation  of  a  rattlesnake  in 
"the  attitude  of  going  to  strike,  and  these  words  undarneath,  '  Don't  tread  on  me.' ' 
This  was  doubtless  the  strange  flag  of  which  an  English  writer  of  that  period  speaks  in 
the  following  words :  "  A  strange  flag  has  lately  appeared  in  our  seas,  bearing  a  pine 


APPENDIX.  311 

tree  with  the  portraiture  of  a  rattlesnake  coiled  up  at  its  root,  with  these  daring  words : 
•  Don't  tread  on  me.'  We  learn  that  the  vessels  bearing  this  flag,  have  a  sort  of  com- 
mission from  a  society  of  people  at  Philadelphia,  calling  themselves  the  continental 
Congress." 

No.  V.— page  75. 

The  following  letter  is  without  date,  and  the  address  is  torn  off.  It  is  an  interest* 
ing  fragment. 

..»*»»  coant  d'Estaing,  the  king  never  had  a  subject  who  loved  him  better  ; 
who  has  a  nobler  mind,  or  who  is  a  more  worthy  citizen.  Though  vice  admiral  of 
France,  (the  only  officer  of  that  high  rank  who  has  served  in  the  late  war,)  he 
was  sent  out  to  America,  with  no  more  than  the  command  of  a  Chef  d'Escadre  ;  and 
from  three  to  four  months  after  I  had  given  the  minister  of  marine  the  plan  of  that  ex- 
pedition. I  gave  the  plan  the  10th  of  February,  1778.  That  long  and  unnecessary  delay 
rendered  it  scarcely  possible  for  the  expedition  to  succeed.  Yet  this  was  no  fault  of 
the  vice  admiral ;  who,  on  the  contrary  deserves  the  highest  praise  for  his  zeal  and 
perseverance.  He  would  have  surmounted  every  difficulty  and  taken  Lord  Howe  in 
the  road  of  New  York,  if  a  generous  sacrifice  of  his  own  fortune,  150, OOOliv.  could  have 
induced  the  pilot  to  conduct  him  over  the  bar. 

•  •  The  captains  who  were  about  him  were  constantly  in  cabal  to  frustrate  his  project*. 
and  never  approached  him  with  their  advice,  but  with  a  revolting  impertinence  which 
is  highly  culpable  in  the  mouth  of  subalterns  when  they  speak  to  their  chief.  The 
admiral  had  proof  that  those  men  had  done  all  in  their  power,  by  letters  to  court  and 
otherwise,  to  ruin  him.  Carte  blanche  was  sent  him  to  punish  them  at  his  pleasure. 
But  he  contented  himself  with  showing  them  that  he  was  too  noble  minded,  to  avail 
himself  of  his  power.  He  gave  them  every  opportunity  of  distinguishing  their  zeal 
for  their  country,  and  always  rendered  ample  justice  to  their  good  conduct.  The  taking 
of  Grenada  is  a  military  achievement  greater  than  any  other  admiral  can  boast  of  in 

the  course  of  the  last  war ;  and  if  Count  de  G had  supported  his  admiral  in  the 

engagement  with  Byron,  it  would  have  been  the  most  glorious  affair  for  the  flag  of 
France  that  ever  happened.  If  the  admiral  did  not  succeed  at  Savannah,  it  must  be 
attributed  to  invincible  difficulties.  No  other  man  in  his  place  would  have  succeeded. 
He  had  been  misinformed  respecting  the  badness  of  the  coast,  where  hid  fleet  were 
obliged  to  remain  at  anchor  far  from  the  land  in  the  open  sea,  far  from  every  resorrce 
of  provisions,  wood,  or  water.  He  had  been  misinformed  respecting  the  length  and 
shallowness  of  the  river,  the  strength  of  the  place,  and  the  force  of  the  enemy.  When 
he  summoned  Savannah  to  surrender  he  had  not  above  a  fourth  part  of  his  troops 
landed,  and  he  had  with  him  neither  mortars  nor  battering  cannon.  He  found  the 
enemy  much  stronger  than  he  had  expected ;  and  it  was  a  stratagem  of  war  that  might 
have  succeeded  ;  for  he  was  certain  that  the  enemy  did  not  know  that  he  was  not  of 
sufficient  force  to  put  his  threat  in  execution.  No  fault  caa  be  found  with  his  conduct 
on  that  expedition,  except  it  be  said,  that  it  was  wrong  to  give  the  enemy  so  long  time 
as  two  days  to  make  his  capitulation.  But  to  this  it  may  be  answered,  that  the  ad- 
miral could  not  possibly  be  ready  in  a  shorter  time  to  assault  the  place;  which  was  so 
strongly  re-inforced  in  the  interim,  that  an  assault  must  have  failed.  A  siege,  therefore, 
became  indispensable.  This  required  much  more  time  ;  but  there  is  reason  to  believe 


1 


312  APPENDIX. 

it  would  have  succeeded,  if  the  admiral  had  not  been  so  dangerously  wounded  when 
he  stormed  the  place  after  having  made  a  practicable  breach ;  for  some  of  the  Ameri- 
cans had  got  possession  of  a  commanding  bastion,  before  the  retreat  was  ordered. 
In  war,  the  force  must  be  very  superior  that  can  insure  success.  And  even  a  superior 
force  may  fail  through  circumstances,  without  any  reflection  on  the  commander.  But 
Count  d'Estaing  deserved  success ;  and  he  can  say  what  no  other  man  can  do  who 
served  through  all  the  last  war  :  '  He  has  had  no  advancement,  his  wounds  are  his 
honours ;  and  the  public  esteem  his  reward.' 

'History  says  that  France  has  no  officer,  whom  England  fears  so  much. 

"  I  have  the  honour  to-be,  &e.  &c. 

"Pxtn.  JONKS." 

No.  VI.— page  144. 

The  following  letters  will  be  found  in  the  Diplomatic  Correspondence  of  the  Ame- 
rican Revolution,  Vol.  I.  pp.  215,  268,  269. 

[To  the  President  of  Congress.] 

"  Patsy,  April  \2,  1785. 
"  SIR, 

"  Mr.  de  Chaumont,  who  will  have  the  honour  of  presenting  this  line  to  your  excel- 
lency, is  a  young  gentleman  of  excellent  character,  whose  father  was  one  of  our  most 
early  friends  in  this  country,  which  he  manifested  by  crediting  us  with  a  thousand 
barrels  of  gunpowder  and  other  military  stores  in  1776,  before  we  had  provided  any 
apparent  means  of  payment.  He  has,  as  I  understand,  some  demands  to  make  on 
Congress,  the  nature  of  which  I  am  unacquainted  with  ;  but  my  regard  for  the  family 
makes  me  wish  that  they  may  obtain  a  speedy  consideration  and  such  favourable  issue 
as  they  may  appear  to  merit. 

"  To  this  end  I  beg  leave  to  recommend  him  to  your  countenance  and  protection. 
and  am,  with  great  respect,  &c. 

"  B.  FRANKMN." 

[To  M.  le  Ray  de  Chaumont.] 

"  Passy,  Sept.  15,  1778. 
"  SIR 

"  As  our  finances  are,  at  present,  in  a  situation  seriously  critical,  and  as  I  hold  my- 
self accountable  to  Congress  for  every  part  of  my  conduct,  even  to  the  smallest  article 
of  my  expenses,  I  must  beg  the  favour  of  you  to  consider  what  rent  we  ought  to  pay 
you  for  this  house  and  furniture  both  for  the  time  past  and  to  come.  Every  part  of 
your  conduct  towards  me,  and  towards  our  Americans  in  general,  and  in  all  onr  affairs. 
has  beon  polite  and  obliging,  as  far  as  I  have  had  an  opportunity  of  observing,  and 
I  have  no  doubt  it  will  continue  so ;  yet  it  is  not  reasonable  that  the  United  States 
should  bo  under  so  great  an  obligation  to  a  private  gentleman,  as  that  two  of  their 
representatives  should  occupy,  for  so  long  a  time,  so  elegant  a  seat,  with  so  much  furni- 
ture, and  so  fine  accommodations,  without  any  compensation;  and,  in  order  to  avoid 
the  disapprobation  of  our  constituents  on  the  one  hand,  for  living  here  at  too  great  or 
at  too  uncertain  an  expense;  and  on  the  other  the  censure  of  the  world  for  not  making 


APPENDIX.  313 

sufficient  compensation  to  a  gentleman  who  has  done  so  much  for  our  convenience,  K 
seems  to  me  necessary  that  we  should  come  to  an  eclaircissement  upon  this  head. 

"  As  you  have  an  account  against  the  commissioners,  or  against  the  United  States, 
for  several  other  matters,  I  should  also  be  obliged  to  you  if  you  would  send  it  ia  as 
soon  as  possible,  as  every  day  renders  it  more  and  more  necessary  for  us  to  look  into 
our  affairs  with  the  utmost  precision. 

"  I  am,  sir,  with  much  esteem  and  respect, 

"  Your  most  obedient  humble  servant, 

"  JOHN  ADAMS." 

[M.  le  Ray  de  Chaumont  to  John  Adams.] 

"  Passy,  Sept.  18,  1778. 

TRANSLATION. 
"SlR, 

"  I  have  received  the  letter  which  you  did  me  the  honour  to  write  to  me  on  the  15th 
instant,  making  inquiry  as  to  the  rent  of  my  house,  in  which  you  live,  for  the  past  and 
the  future.  When  I  consecrated  my  house  to  Dr.  Franklin,  and  his  associates  who 
might  live  with  him,  I  made  it  fully  understood  that  I  should  expect  no  compensation ; 
because  I  perceived  that  you  had  need  of  all  your  means  to  send  to  the  succour  of  your 
country,  or  to  relieve  the  distresses  of  your  countrymen  escaping  from  the  chains  of 
their  enemies.  I  pray  you,  sir,  to  permit  this  arrangement  to  remain,  which  I  made 
when  the  fate  of  your  country  was  doubtful.  When  she  shall  enjoy  all  her  splendour, 
such  sacrifices  on  my  part  will  be  superfluous  or  unworthy  of  her;  but,  at  present  they 
may  be  useful,  and  I  am  most  happy  in  offering  them  to  you. 

"  There  is  no  occasion  for  strangers  to  be  informed  of  my  proceeding  in  this  respect. 
It  is  so  much  the  worse  for  those  who  would  not  do  the  same  if  they  had  the  oppor- 
tunity, and  so  much  the  better  for  me,  to  have  immortalized  my  house  by  receiving 
into  it  Dr.  Franklin  and  his  associates. 

"  I  have  the  honour  to  be, 
"  Sir,  with  the  most  perfect  respect,  &c. 

"  LE  RAY  DE  CHAUMOHT." 

The  following  is  part  of  a  letter  from  the  "  Nation's  Guest,"  whose  remembrances 
of  half  a  century  were  found  to  be  as  vivid,  as  his  enthusiasm  had  been  when 
he  embarked  in  the  cause  of  liberty  in  1776.  It  was  addressed  to  Le  Ray  de  Chau- 
mont, Esq.  of  Jefferson  County,  son  of  the  gentleman  in  question. 

"  La  Grange,  November  10,  J825. 
"  Mr  DEAR  SIR, 

"  Although  your  own  remembrance  of  the  services  rendered  to  our  cause  by  the  late 
Le  Ray  de  Chaumont,  and  under  his  direction  by  his  son,  precludes  the  utility  of  any 
further  evidence,  I  think  it  a  duty,  as  one  of  the  few  surviving  witnesses  of  those 
transactions  to  add  my  testimony  to  those  of  William  Franklin,  Marbois,  Laforest, 
Monroe,  as  well  as  your  respected  father's  recollections.  Yet  I  would  think  it  super- 
fluous to  enter  with  you  into  a  minute  detail  of  the  efforts  which  M.  Le  Ray  de  Chau- 
mont made  with  his  favourable  situation,  large  fortune,  remarkable  talents,  and  un- 

39 


314  APPENDIX. 

Common  activity,  and  constancy  to  promote  the  interest  of  the  United  States,  before 
the  recognition  of  independence  by  the  French  court,  and  afterwards,  by  his  continued 
exertions  ;  namely  in  the  expedition  of  the  American  squadron  under  the  command 
of  the  gallant  Paul  Jones." 

An  allusion  follows  to  the  unsettled  account  of  M.  Le  Ray  de  Chaumont. 

I  state  on  the  authority  of  the  gentleman  to  whom  the  foregoing  letter  was  addressed, 
that  a  reconciliation  took  place  between  Jones  and  himself  after  the  conclusion  of  the 
peace,  Dr.  Franklin  having  brought  them  together,  in  the  presence  of  Robert  Morris, 
Esq.  at  Philadelphia.  It  was  then  and  there  made  apparent  to  Jones,  that  he  had  not 
understood  how  much  M.  Le  Ray  Chaumont,  senior,  had  been,  and  remained  so 
largely  in  advance  to  the  United  States;  and  with  his  characteristic  frankness,  the 
commodore  admitted  his  error.  A  friendship  continued  between  these  parties 
afterwards. 

No.  VII— pages  169,  198. 

In  a  memorandum,  dated  at  Versailles,  on  the  17th  of  June,  1780,  Jones  stated 
that,  "  when  the  treaty  of  alliance  with  France  arrived  in  America,  Congress  feeling 
the  most  lively  sentiments  of  gratitude  towards  France,  thought  how  they  might  mani- 
fest the  satisfaction  of  the  continent  by  some  public  act.  The  finest  frigate  in  the 
service  was  on  the  stocks,  ready  to  be  launched,  and  it  was  resolved  to  call  her  the 
Alliance.  M.  Landais,  a  French  subject,  who  had  then  arrived  in  America  from 
France,  as  master  of  a  merchant  ship  laden  with  public  stores,  had  reported  that  he 
had  been  a  captain  in  the  royal  navy  of  France,  had  commanded  a  ship  of  the  line, 
been  a  chief  officer  of  the  port  of  Brest,  and  was  of  such  worth  and  estimation  for  his 
great  abilities,  that  he  could  have  had  any  honours  or  advancement  in  his  own  country 
that  he  pleased  to  accept;  but  that  his  desire  to  serve  America  had  induced  him  to 
leave  his  own  country,  and  even  to  refuse  to  receive  the  cross  of  St.  Louis,  that  he 
might  be  at  liberty  to  abjure  the  religion  of  his  forefathers,  which  he  did  accordingly. 
Congress  believing  M.  Landais  to  be  in  high  esteem  at  the  court  of  Versailles,  and 
thinking,  with  reason,  that  it  would  give  pleasure  to  his  majesty  to  find  that  on  of  his 
worthy  subjects  had  been  treated  with  distinction  in  America,  appointed  him  captain 
of  the  Alliance." 

Captain  Landais  was  well  known  to  the  citizens  of  the  United  States,  especially 
during  the  latter  years  of  his  life.  He  died  on  Long  Island,  in  the  State  of  New  York. 
For  a  considerable  time  prior  to  his  death,  he  was  an  annual  petitioner  to  Congress, 
on  whose  sessions  he  often  attended,  to  urge  his  claim  for  indemnity,  on  account  of  his 
portion  of  the  prize  money,  which  ought  to  have  accrued  from  three  prizes  sent  into 
Norway,  whilst  he  was  in  command  of  the  Alliance  in  Europe.  His  temper,  even  in 
old  age,  appeared  to  be  severe  ;  for  whilst  at  Washington,  he  could  not  avoid  betray- 
ing his  irritability.  A  remarkable  instance  of  this  unhappy  constitutional  excitability 
is  related  of  him  with  respect  to  a  member  of  Congress,  who  had  spoken  rather  slight- 
ingly of  him.  Landais  dressed  himself  in  his  uniform,  with  a  small  sword  by  his  side, 
and  repaired  to  the  gallery  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  when  in  session ;  indica- 
ting thereby,  as  well  as  in  conversation  with  his  acquaintances,  that  he  was  prepared 
to  give  any  gentleman  satisfaction  who  might  be  offended  with  him.  He  afterwards 
observed,  quoting  a  remark  ascribed  to  Henry  IV.  of  France,  that  "  if  there  was  bad 


APPENDIX  315 

blood  in  Congress,  he  would  draw  it."  He  affirmed  to  the  last,  that  he,  and  mot  Jones, 
captured  the  Serapis,  attributing  her  surrender  entirely  to  his  having  raked  her  from 
the  Alliance  ;  about  which  the  reader  has  seen  that  his  assertion  was  entirely  void  of 
foundation. 

The  following  account  of  this  eccentric  individual  is  from  a  more  imaginative  and 
perhaps  less  authentic  account.  But,  it  is  believed  that  the  statement  is,  in  the  main, 
correct.  I  know  that  there  was  such  a  tombstone  erected  for  Laudais,  at  the  place 
mentioned;  but  the  ground  has  since  been  raised  in  that  cemetery,  several  feet,  and  like 
him  whom  it  commemorated,  it  a  disparu.  At  least,  I  cannot  see  it  there  any  longer. 

"  There  was  another  Frenchman  of  distinction,  who  used  daily  to  take  his  solitary 
walk  through  Broadway.  I  allude  to  Admiral  Pierre  de  Laudais,  a  cadet  of  the 
family  of  a  younger  son  of  the  youngest  branch  of  one  of  the  oldest,  proudest,  and 
poorest  families  in  Normandy.  He  had  regularly  studied  in  the  Ecole  de  la  marine, 
and  was  thoroughly  instructed  in  the  mathematical  theories  of  sailing  and  building  a 
ship,  although  like  the  rest  of  his  countrymen,  he  always  found  some  unexpected  dif- 
ficulty in  applying  his  theory  to  practice.  For  a  Frenchman,  however,  he  was  a 
good  sailor ;  but  in  consequence  of  his  grandfather  having  exhausted  his  patrimony 
in  a  splendid  exhibition  of  fire  works  for  the  entertainment  of  Madame  de  Pompadour, 
he  had  neither  interest  at  court  nor  money  to  purchase  court  favour.  He  was,  there- 
fore, kept  in  the  situation  of  an  aspirant  or  midshipman,  until  he  was  thirty-two  years 
old,  and  was  kept,  I  know  not  how  many  years  more,  in  the  humble  rank  of  sous  lieu- 
tenant. He  served  his  country  faithfully,  and  with  great  good  will  until,  in  the  begin- 
ning of  the  reign  of  Louis  XVI.  a  page  of  the  mistress  of  the  Count  de  Vergennes 
came  down  to  Cherbourg  to  be  his  captain.  While  he  was  boiling  with  indignation 
at  this  affront,  the  war  between  England  and  America  broke  out,  and  he  seized  that 
opportunity  to  enter  the  service  of  the  United  States.  There  he  at  once  rose  to  the 
command  of  a  fine  frigate,  and  the  title  of  admiral.  Soon  afterwards  came  the  brilliant 
affair  of  the  Serapis  and  the  Bon  Homnie  Richard,  in  which  Paul  Jones,  by  his  im- 
petuous and  undisciplined  gallantry,  earned  t'ae  reputation  of  a  hero,  and  poor  Lan- 
dais  by  a  too  scrupulous  attention  to  the  theory  of  naval  science,  incurred  that  of  a 
coward.  I  believe  that  naval  authority  is  against  me ;  but  I  venture  to  assert,  meo 
periculo,  and  on  the  authority  of  one  of  iny  uncles,  who  was  in  that  action  as  a  lieu- 
tenant to  Paul  Jones,  that  Landais  erred  not  through  any  defect  of  bravery,  but  merely 
from  his  desire  to  approach  his  enemy  scientifically,  by  bearing  down  upon  the 
hypothenuse  of  the  precise  right-angled  triangle  prescribed  in  the  thirty-seventh 
"  manoeuvre"  of  his  old  text  book. 

"The  naval  committee  of  Congress  unfortunately  understood  neither  mathematics 
nor  French  ;  they  could  not  comprehend  Landais'  explanations,  and  he  was  thrown 
out  of  service.  After  his  disgrace  he  constantly  resided  in  the  city  of  New  York,  ex 
cept  that  he  always  made  a  biennial  visit  to  the  seat  of  government,  whether  at  Phila- 
delphia or  at  Washington,  to  present  a  memorial  respecting  the  injustice  done  him, 
and  to  claim  restitution  to  his  rank  and  the  arrears  of  his  pay.  An  unexpected  divi- 
dend of  prize  money,  earned  at  the  beginning  of  the  Revolutionary  war,  and  paid  in 
1790,  gave  him  an  annuity  of  one  hundred  and  four  dollars ;  or  rather,  as  I  think,  a 
hundred  and  five  ;  for  I  remember  his  telling  me  that  he  had  two  dollars  a  week  on 
which  to  subsist,  and  an  odd  dollar  for  charity  at  the  end  of  the  year. 


316  APPENDIX. 

"Although  Congress  under  the  new  constitution  continued  as  obdurate  and  as  im- 
penetrable to  explanation  as  they  were  in  the  time  of  the  confederation,  the  admiral  kept 
up  to  the  last,  the  habits  and  exterior  of  a  gentleman.  His  linen,  though  not  very  fine, 
nor  probably  very  whole,  was  always  clean  ;  his  coat  threadbare,  but  scrupulously 
brushed ;  and  for  occasions  of  ceremonious  visiting,  he  had  a  pair  of  paste  knee 
buckles  and  faded  yellow  silk  stockings  with  red  clocks.  He  wore  the  American 
cockade  to  the  last,  and  on  the  fourth  of  July,  the  day  of  St.  Louis,  and  the  anniver- 
sary of  the  day  on  which  the  British  troops  evacuated  the  city  of  New  York,  he  peri- 
odically mounted  his  old  continental  naval  uniform,  although  its  big  brass  buttons  had 
lost  their  splendour,  and  the  skirts  of  the  coat,  which  wrapped  his  shrunken  person 
like  a  cloak,  touched  his  heels  in  walking,  while  the  sleeves,  by  some  contradictory 
process  had  receded  several  inches  from  the  wrists.  He  subsisted  with  the  utmost  in- 
dependence on  his  scanty  income,  refusing  all  presents,  even  the  most  trifling ;  and 
when  my  naval  uncle,  on  one  occasion  sent  him  a  dozen  of  Newark  cider,  as  a  small 
mark  of  his  recollection  of  certain  hospitalities  at  the  admiral's  table,  when  in  com- 
mand, while  he  himself  was  but  a  poor  lieutenant,  Landais  peremptorily  refused  them, 
as  a  present  which  he  could  not  receive,  because  it  was  not  in  his  power  to  reciprocate. 

"He  was  a  man  of  the  most  punctilious  and  chivalric  honour,  and  at  the  same  time 
full  of  that  instinctive  kindness  of  heart  and  that  nice  sense  of  propriety,  which  shrinks 
from  doing  a  rude  thing  to  any  body  on  any  occasion.  Even  when  he  met  his  bitterest 
enemy,  as  he  did  shortly  after  he  carne  to  New  York,  the  man  whose  accusation 
had  destroyed  his  reputation  and  blighted  his  prospects,  whose  injuries  he  had  for 
years  brooded  over,  and  whom  he  had  determined  to  insult  and  punish  whenever  he 
fell  in  with  him,  he  could  not  bring  himself  to  offer  him  any  insult  unbecoming  a  gen- 
tleman, but  deliberately  spitting  on  the  pavement,  desired  his  adversary  to  consider 
that  pavement  as  his  own  face,  and  to  proceed  accordingly. 

"  Thus,  in  proud,  solitary,  and  honourable  poverty,  lived  Pierre  de  Landais,  for  some 
forty  years,  until,  to  use  the  language  of  his  own  epitaph,  in  the  eighty  seventh  year 
of  his  age,  he  "  disappeared"  from  this  life.  As  he  left  no  property  behind  him,  and 
had  no  relations  and  scarcely  any  acquaintances  in  the  country,  it  has  always  been  a 
matter  of  mystery  to  me,  who  erected  his  monument,  a  plain  white  marble  slab,  which 
stands  in  the  church  yard  of  St.  Patrick's  Cathedral,  in  New  York,  and  on  which  is 
read  the  following  characteristic  inscription : 


A   LA   MEMOIR! 

de 
PIERRE    DE    LANDAIS, 

ANCIKN    OONTRE  AMIRAI,, 

au  service 

DBS    KTATS    UN1S. 

Qiu  Disparut 

Juin  1818, 

Age  87  arts. 

Talisman,  11.  jzv — 


APPENDIX.  317 

No.  VIII.— page  245. 

It  would  be  unpardonable  to  omit  in  a  Life  of  Jones,  specimens  of  the  versification 
which  he  amused  himself  with  making,  either  out  of  his  own  brains,  or  with  the 
assistance  of  the  metrical  common-places,  witb^which  his  memory  seem*  to  have  been 
stored.  The  observation  made  in  the  text  will  be  fully  justified  by  them.  One 
piece  has  been  found  among  the  manuscripts  before  the  compiler,  which  has  not  been 
previously  published.  The  lines  which  first  follow,  referred  to  in  the  text,  were 
unquestionably  made  at  the  time  of  their  date,  and,  as  has  been  remarked  by  the 
ingenious  biographer  who  contrived  to  make  a  connected  story  out  of  Mr.  Sherburne's 
Collections,  are  as  great  a  "  psycological  curiosity,"  as  the  singularly  wild  and  beauti- 
ful fragment,  entitled  Christabel.  They  differ,  certainly,  in  some  strange  respects. 
One  is  the  elaborate  amusement,  (for  Jones  felt  his  personal  pride  quickly  awake  in 
every  thing  he  did,)  of  a  man  who  had  laughed  at  the  whole  English  navy,  spurned 
the  illegitimate  protection  of  France,  and  evaded  the  fluctuating  and  unintelligible 
policy  of  the  country  into  whose  ports  he  had  entered,  and  taken  upon  himself  that 
awful  responsibility,  which  death  itself,  without  success,  will  not  discharge.  Jonea 
had  left  Scylla  barking,  and  knew  that  Charybdis  was  near,  when  he  solemnly  manu- 
factured these  strains.  There  is  queer  poetry  in  Coleridge's  abortion ;  but  no  sen- 
sible person  will  ever  believe,  that  he  wrote  down  while  awake,  many  hundred  lines, 
which  he  remembered  to  have  composed  while  asleep.  So  we  will  give  the  laurel  to 
Jones,  so  far  as  psycological  curiosities  are  concerned. 

VERSES. 

[Written  on  board  the  Alliance  off  Ushant ,  the  1st  day  of  January,  1780,  imme- 
diately after  escaping  out  of  the  Texel,  from  the  blockade  of  the  British  fleets;  being  in 
answer  to  a  piece  written  and  sent  to  the  Texel  by  a  young  Lady  at  the  Hague.] 

I. 

Were  I,  Paul  Jones,  dear  maid,  "  the  king  of  sea," 

I  find  such  merit  in  thy  virgin  song, 
A  coral  crown  with  bays  I'd  give  to  thee,    - 

A  car  which  on  the  waves  should  smoothly  glide  along  : 
The  Nereides  all  about  thy  side  should  wait, 
And  gladly  sing  in  triumph  of  thy  state 
"  Vivat,  vivat,  the  happy  virgin  muse ! 
Of  liberty  the  friend,  who  tyrant  power  pursues!" 

II. 

Or,  happier  lot !  were  fair  Columbia  free 

From  British  tyranny — and  youth  still  mine, 
I'd  tell  a  tender  tale  to  one  like  thee 

With  artless  looks  and  breast  as  pure  as  thine. 
If  she  approved  my  flame,  distrust  apart, 
Like  faithful  turtles,  we'd  have  but  one  heart : 
Together  then  we'd  tune  the  silver  lyre, 
As  love  or  sacred  freedom  should  our  lays  inspire. 


318  APPENDIX. 

III. 

But  since,  alas !  the  rage  of  war  prevails, 

And  cruel  Britons  desolate  our  land, 
For  freedom  still  I  spread  my  willing  sails, 

My  unsheath'd  sword  my  injured  country  shall  command. 
Go  on,  bright  maid !  the  muses  all  attend 
Genius  like  thine,  and  wish  to  be  its  friend. 
Trust  me,  although  conveyed  through  this  poor  shift, 
My  New-Year's  thoughts  are  grateful  for  thy  gift. 


LINES  ADDRESSED  TO  A  LADY. 

I. 

When  Jove  from  high  Olympus  goes 

To  Ida,  and  the  fair  below, 
All  heav'n  laments — but  Juno  shows, 

A  jealous  and  superior  wo : 
In  vain  to  her  all  power  is  given, 

To  female  weakness  ever  dear ; 
She  scorns  the  sov'reignty  of  heav'n, 

Her  God,  her  Jove,  seems  all  to  her ! 

II. 

But  when  the  Thunderer  returns, 

And  seeks  his  skies,  (so  Homer  sings,) 
Soil  .flames  the  impatient  goddess  burns ! 

She  hastes  to  meet  the  King  of  kings : 
Swift  as  the  light  her  chariot  flies, 

Her  swifter  wishes  fly  before ; 
Still  joyous  in  the  middle  skies, 

She  meets  the  cloud  compelling  pow'r. 

IIL 

Prolific  nature  feels  th'  embrace, 

Superior  blossoms,  fruits  and  flow'ri, 
Spring  up — heav'n  wears  a  brighter  face, 

And  fragrance  in  profusion  show'rs. 
Celestial  raptures  who  can  tell  ? 

Ours  all  divine !  are  only  felt, 
What  bold  presumptuous  strains  shall  swell, 

With  transports  which  the  gods  can  melt! 


APPENDIX.  319 

IV. 

Thus  when  thy  warrior,  though  co  god, 

Brings  Freedom's  standard  o'er  the  main, 
Long  absent  from  thy  blest  abode, 

Casts  anchor  in  dear  France  again ; 
O !  thou  more  heavenly  ! — far  more  kind 

Than  Juno,  as  tliy  swain  than  Jove, 
With  what  heart's  transports,  raptur'd  mind  ! 

Shall  toe  approach  on  wings  of  love ! 


The  following  verses,  on  a  black  profile,  are  without  date,  and  written  on  I  know 
not  what  occasion. 


Pity  so  excellent  a  face, 

Should  in  a  shade  preserve  thy  name, 
Such  beauty,  harmony,  and  grace, 

The  painter's  softest  tints  may  claim ! 

II. 

The  eye,  complexion,  spirit,  air, 

In  that  vile  profile  all  are  lost, 
Only  some  features  left ! — I  swear, 

"Tie  not  Maria .'  but  her  ghost. 

in. 

O !  did  Appelle's  genius  warm, 
Or  had  I  Raphael's  skill  divine : 

Their  brightest  works  should  cease  to  charm, 
And  Venus'  portrait  yield  to  thine. 

IV. 

They  drew  a  Nymph  they  never  saw, 
Then  call'd  her  Love's  bright  deity, 

My  goddess  from  the  life  I'd  draw, 
And  to  paint  her  but  copy  thee. 

V. 

Carnation  and  the  blushing  rose, 
Should,  blended  with  the  lily,  vie, 

And  grace,  beyond  all  art  disclose, 
The  mild  blue  lustre  of  thy  eye. 


320  APPENDIX. 


VI. 


The  loves  and  graces  round  should  stand. 

Or  lightly  hov'ring  o'er  thy  head, 
With  gentle  impulse  prompt  my  hand, 

And  sweetly  mingle  light  and  shade 

VII. 

And,  lest  this  matchless  piece  of  min«, 

Should  tempt  me  to  idolatry; 
Soon  as  I  felt  the  heath'nish  sin, 

I'd  turn  from  that  and  gaze  on  thee  ! 

VIII. 

Yet  as  mere  picture  ne'er  could  show, 
The  beauties  latent  in  thy  mind, 

The  heav'n-born  muse  should  this  pursue, 
The  pen  be  with  the  pencil  join'd. 

IX. 

The  loveliest  form,  the  fairest  face, 
The  brightest  eye,  the  gentlest  mind, 

And  every  virtue,  charm,  and  grace, 
Should  be  to  endless  fame  consign'd. 

X. 

Posterity  thus  blest  by  me, 

Should  read  and  gaze,  and  read  again ; 
For  that  blue  shade  an  angel  see, 

And,  for  my  rhymes,  read  Homer's  strain. 


KND  OF  APPENDIX  TO  PART  I. 


PAUL    JONES. 


PART  n. 


THE  year  1791  was  to  Jones  a  period  of  reward  for  past  ser- 
vices and  disappointments  ;  of  grateful  and  honourable  repose 
after  long  and  harassing  perplexities,  and  of  well  founded  ex- 
pectation of  a  distinguished  command  in  future.  Its  annals,  so 
far  as  he  was  connected  with  them,  may  be  summarily  recited. 
His  reputation  as  a  commander  was  exalted  in  America,  and 
report  had  even  exaggerated  his  actions.  Dr.  Lee,  who  had 
found  out  that  Landais  was  insane,  and  upon  whose  testimony 
before  a  court  martial  the  latter  had  been  broke,  was  now  pre- 
pared to  go  with  the  current,  and  even  appear  as  the  friend  of 
Jones.  The  board  of  admiralty,  in  reporting  on  "  the  reasons, 
that  the  public  clothing  and  military  stores  had  not  been  im- 
ported," had  stated  to  Congress  on  the  2d  November  of  the 
previous  year,  that  "  it  appeared  Captain  Landais  regained 
command  of  the  Alliance  by  the  advice  of  Mr.  Lee,  notwith- 
standing his  suspension  by  Dr.  Franklin,  who,  by  the  direction 
of  the  marine  committee,  had  the  sole  management  of  our  ma- 
rine affairs  in  Europe." 

Jones  landed  at  Philadelphia  on  the  18th  of  February.  On 
the  following  day,  a  motion  was  offered,  that  he  should  be 
directed  to  appear  before  that  body,  to  give  all  the  information 
in  his  power  relative  to  the  detention  of  the  clothing  and  arms 
in  France,  intended  for  Washington's  army  ;  and  that  the  doors 
should  be  open,  during  the  examination.  After  debate,  on 

40 


322  PAUL   JONES. 

motion  of  Mr.  Adams,  the  consideration  of  this  proposition  was 
postponed.  A  regular  inquiry  into  many  particulars  of  Jones' 
cruises,  from  November,  1777,  when  he  left  Portsmouth  in  the 
Ranger,  was  necessary,  and  in  course  ;  and  on  the  20th,  forty- 
seven  questions  were  drawn  up  by  the  board  of  admiralty,  which 
he  was  required  to  answer  as  soon  as  possible.  Two  of  the  ques- 
tions were  afterwards  extended,  to  enable  his  formal  answers  to 
meet  every  point  of  interrogatory,  which  he  did  with  singular 
promptness  ;  but  before  such  formal  reply  was,  or  could  have 
been  rendered,  the  letter  of  M.  de  la  Sartine  had  been  referred 
to  a  committee,  upon  whose  report  the  following  resolutions  were 
adopted  on  the  27th  : 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Congress  entertain  a  high  sense  of  the 
distinguished  bravery  and  military  conduct  of  John  Paul  Jones, 
Esq.  captain  in  the  navy  of  the  United  States,  and  particularly 
in  his  victory  over  the  British  frigate  Serapis  on  the  coast  of 
England,  which  was  attended  with  circumstances  so  brilliant  as 
to  excite  general  applause  and  admiration  : 

"  That  the  minister  plenipotentiary  of  these  United  States  at 
the  court  of  Versailles,  communicate  to  his  most  Christian  ma- 
jesty, the  high  satisfaction  Congress  has  received  from  the  con- 
duct and  gallant  behaviour  of  Captain  John  Paul  Jones,  which 
have  merited  the  attention  and  approbation  of  his  most  Christian 
majesty,  and  that  his  majesty's  offer  of  adorning  Captain  Jones 
with  a  cross  of  military  merit  is  highly  acceptable  to  Congress." 

In  consequence,  M.  de  la  Luzerne  gave  a  fete  to  all  the 
members  of  Congress,  and  to  the  principal  inhabitants  of 
Philadelphia,  and  in  their  presence,  he,  in  the  name  of  his 
majesty,  invested  the  commodore  with  the  order  of  military 
merit. 

The  answers  of  the  chevalier  to  all  the  forty-seven  interroga- 
tories were  given  early  in  March.  They  are  terse,  frank,  and 
perspicuous.  The  board  of  admiralty  were  in  the  same  dilern 
ma,  as  to  the  authority  under  which  some  of  the  deputy  prize 
agents  acted,  that  every  person  will  fall  into  on  reading  the  cor- 
respondence of  Jones  at  the  time ;  and  he  was  still  in  some 


PAUL   JONES.  323 

uncertainty  as  to  this  point,  in  rendering  an  explanation.  He 
mentioned  in  his  second  answer,  that  he  sent  to  the  commis- 
sioners the  scheme  afterwards  adopted  for  Count  D'Estaing's 
expedition.  On  his  right  to  claim  the  merit  of  originating  this 
project,  we  have  already  remarked.  He  would  scarcely  have 
now  openly  claimed  it  in  the  face  of  the  world,  if  contradiction 
and  consequent  humiliation  had  been  like  to  result  from  his  so 
doing.  He  could  proudly  say,  in  answer  to  the  8th  interroga- 
tory, "  I  never  have  borne  nor  acted  under  any  other  commis- 
sion than  that  of  the  Congress  of  America."  He  stated  in  reply 
to  searching  queries  about  his  objects  and  projects,  that  he  had 
a  variety  of  the  latter,  but  as  to  many  of  them,  no  person  was 
in  his  secret.  His  main  and  prominent  purpose  was  to  effect 
the  liberty  and  exchange  of  American  citizens,  "  confined  as 
pirates,  felons,  and  traitors,  in  the  dungeons  of  England."  His 
"  second  was,  the  honour  of  the  American  flag."  At  whose 
expense  the  Alliance  had  been  provided  for,  he  was  not  aware. 
He  believed  that  the  American  officers  and  men,  had  received 
from  their  agents,  some  part  of  the  shares  arising  from  the 
sales  of  prizes  taken  by  the  squadron  under  his  command  ;  but 
it  was  their  own  private  transaction.  He  repeated  his  assertion, 
(which  he  believed,  without  evidence,  to  be  correct,)  that  M.  de 
Chaumont,  the  commissary,  had  been  intrusted  with  funds  by  the 
government,  for  the  expense  of  the  armament,  which  he  with- 
held. He  gave  a  satisfactory  account  of  the  reasons  why  the 
clothing  and  arms  had  not  been  forwarded,  and  of  the  reasons 
for  the  delay  of  the  sailing  of  the  Ariel  in  relation  to  which  there 
were  five  or  six  very  precise  questions.  His  biographer  in  the 
Edinburgh  Life  did  not  examine  dates  or  facts,  when  he  thought 
it  necessary  not  merely  to  apologize  for  the  latter  delay  of  that 
ship,  but  to  admit  that  Jones  was  accessary  to  it,  after  the 
disaster  in  September.  To  the  last  question  he  replied,  that 
the  officers  and  crew  of  the  Ariel  had  enlisted  for  three  years,* 


*  O  during  the  war,  as  elsewhere  appears. 


324  PAUL   JONES. 

except  a  few  who  entered  at  L' Orient  for  one  year,  after  the 
ship  put  back,  and  that  they  were  at  the  expense  of  the  United 
States.  There  is  nothing  else  requiring  present  notice  in  these 
clear  headed  replies  to  diversified  interrogations,  and  compli- 
cated and  disconnected  matters,  which  has  not  been  previously 
explained.  Jones  was  mistaken  on  one  point  onby  ;  and  his 
error  arose  from  an  excitement  of  feeling,  the  prompting  casue 
of  which,  the  sufferings  of  poor  seamen,  was  a  proper  one. 
"  The  light  that  led  astray  was  light  from  heaven,"  which  hu- 
man weakness  saw  through  a  discoloured  medium. 

On  the  28th  March,  the  board  of  admiralty  made  a  report, 
purporting  to  be  in  pursuance  of  two  resolutions  of  Congress, 
passed  in  the  previous  year,  inquiring  into  the  causes  of  the 
delay  in  the  arrival  of  the  stores  and  clothing.  They  stated, 
that  the  procrastinated  investigation  had  been  resumed  on  the 
arrival  of  Jones,  and  that,  on  propounding  their  questions  to 
him,  with  a  view  to  a  full  explanation,  they  had  desired  him  "  to 
subjoin  to  his  answers  all  such  matters  as  he  might  think  would 
throw  light  on  their  inquiry."  The  questions  and  answers  ac- 
companied the  report,  with  the  voluminous  correspondence  of 
Jones,  referred  to  in  the  margin  of  the  answers,  where  imme- 
diately connected  with  them,  the  rest  being  arranged  in  four  bun 
dies.  The  board  were  "  fully  satisfied,"  that  the  delay  "  had 
not  been  owing  in  any  measure  to  a  want  of  the  closest  atten- 
tion to  that  business,  either  in  the  minister  plenipotentiary  of 
the  United  States,,  or  to  Captain  Jones  ;  who  had,  on  the  con- 
trary, made  every  application  and  used  every  effort  to  accom- 
plish that  purpose ;  but  that  it  was  owing  to  Captain  Landais' 
taking  the  command  of  the  Alliance,  contrary  to  the  express 
orders  of  Dr.  Franklin,  and  proceeding  with  her  to  America." 
It  then  set  forth  the  sentence  of  the  court  martial  held  on  Lan- 
dais, and  that,  after  he  had  been  dismissed  from  the  service,  a 
further  prosecution  was  deemed  improper ;  that  Jones  had 
vainly  endeavoured  to  procure  an  additional  vessel  for  the  trans- 
portation of  the  clothing  ;  that  the  court  of  France  had  furnish- 
ed no  money  *  ?  the  American  minister,  to  enable  him  to  procure 


PAUL  JONES.  325 

clothing ;  that  they  had  commissioned  M.  Le  Ray  de  Chau- 
mont  to  do  so,  and  that  Mr.  J.  Williams  of  Nantes,  and  Messrs. 
Gourlade  and  Moylan  acted  solely  under  his  orders.  They 
acquitted  Jones  of  negligence  in  suffering  the  brig  Luke  to  sail 
from  L'Orient,  with  a  part  of  this  clothing  on  board,  in  the  lat- 
ter part  of  October,  without  waiting  for  the  convoy  of  the  Ariel, 
as  he  had  not  been  spoken  to  by  Gourlade  and  Moylan,  and  had 
no  control  over  her  himself.  They  then,  after  enumerating 
the  actions  of  Jones,  reported  that,  "  ever  since  he  first  became 
an  officer  in  the  navy  of  those  States,  he  hath  shown  an  unre- 
mitted  attention  in  planning  and  executing-  enterprises  calcu- 
lated to  promote  the  essential  interests  of  our  glorious  cause. 
That  in  Europe,  although  in  his  expedition  through  the  Irish 
Channel,  in  the  Ranger,  he  did  not  fully  accomplish  his  purpose, 
yet  he  made  the  enemy  feel  that  it  is  in  the  power  of  a  small 
squadron,  under  a  brave  and  enterprising  commander,  to  reta- 
liate the  conflagrations  of  our  defenceless  towns.  That  return- 
ing from  Europe,  he  brought  with  him  the  esteem  of  the  greatev«t 
and  best  friends  of  America;  and  hath  received  from  the  illus- 
trious monarch  of  France  that  reward  of  warlike  virtue,  which 
his  subjects  receive  by  a  long  series  of  faithful  services  or  un- 
common merit. 

"  The  board  are  of  opinion  that  the  conduct  of  Paul  Jones 
merits  particular  attention,  and  some  distinguished  mark  of 
approbation  from  the  United  States  in  Congress  assembled." 

It  may  here  be  as  well  stated,  chronologically,  that  the  "brave 
Captain  John  Barry,"  as  Jones  called  him,  and  as  he  was  at  this 
moment  proving  himself,  sailed  in  command  of  the  Alliance  from 
Boston  in  February,  having  on  board  Colonel  Laurens,  specially 
commissioned  by  Congress  to  the  court  at  Versailles.  Having 
landed  the  envoy  at  L'Orient,  he  sailed  thence  on  the  30th 
March,  and  three  days  afterwards  redeemed  the  credit  of  the 
Alliance,  by  taking  with  no  great  trouble,  a  couple  of  ships, 
which  Landais,  if  he  had  acted  consistently,  would,  according  to 
the  testimony,  have  run  away  from. 

The  report  of  the  board  of  admiralty,  having  been  referred 


PAUL  JONES. 

to  a  committee,  on  the  coming  in  of  their  report,  Congress 
passed  the  following  resolution  on  the  14th  April. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  the  United  States  in  Congress 
assembled,  be  given  to  Captain  John  Paul  Jones,  for  the  zeal, 
prudence,  and  intrepidity  with  which  he  has  supported  the  ho- 
nour of  the  American  flag ;  for  his  bold  and  successful  enter- 
prises to  redeem  from  captivity  the  citizens  of  the  States  who 
had  fallen  under  the  power  of  the  enemy  ;  and  in  general,  for 
the  good  conduct  and  eminent  services  by  which  he  has  added 
lustre  to  his  character,  and  to  the  American  arms  : 

"  That  the  thanks  of  the  United  States  in  Congress  assem- 
bled, be  also  given  to  the  officers  and  men  who  have  faithfully 
served  under  him  from  time  to  time,  for  their  steady  affection 
to  the  cause  of  their  country,  and  the  bravery  and  perseverance 
they  have  manifested  therein." 

The  next  in  order  of  these  truly  glorious  testimonials,  is  a 
letter  from  the  father  of  his  country;  the  man  whom  "  modern 
degeneracy  had  not  reached,"  and  whom  it  is  foolish  to  say  that 
modern  degeneracy  has  equalled. 

"  Head  Quarters,  New  Windsor,  15th  May,  1781. 

"  SIR, 

"  My  partial  acquaintance  with  either  our  naval  or  commer- 
cial affairs  makes  it  altogether  impossible  for  me  to  account  for 
the  unfortunate  delay  of  those  articles  of  military  stores  and 
clothing  which  have  been  so  long  provided  in  France. 

"  Had  I  had  any  particular  reasons  to  have  suspected  you  of 
being  accessary  to  that  delay,  which  I  assure  you  has  not  been 
the  case,  my  suspicions  would  have  been  removed  by  the  very 
full  and  satisfactory  answers  which  you  have,  to  the  best  of  my 
knowledge,  made  to  the  questions  proposed  to  you  by  the  board 
of  admiralty,  and  upon  which  that  board  have,  in  their  report 
to  Congress,  testified  the  high  sense  which  they  entertain  of 
your  merits  and  services.  • 

"  Whether  our  naval  affairs  have  in  general  been  well  or  ill 
conducted  would  be  presumptuous  in  me  to  determine.  Instances 


PAUL   JONES.  327 

of  bravery  and  good  conduct  in  several  of  our  officers  have  not, 
however,  been  wanting.  Delicacy  forbids  me  to  mention  that 
particular  one  which  has  attracted  the  admiration  of  all  the 
world,  and  which  has  influenced  the  most  illustrious  monarch 
to  confer  a  mark  of  his  favour  which  can  only  be  obtained  by 
a  long  and  honourable  service,  or  by  the  performance  of  some 
brilliant  action. 

"  That  you  may  long  enjoy  the  reputation  you  have  so  justly 
acquired  is  the  sincere  wish  of, 

"  Sir,  your  most  obedient  servant, 

"  GEO.  WASHINGTON." 

With  such  expressions  of  official  and  public  approbation  in 
his  favour,  Jones  says  in  his  journal,  that  he  addressed  Congress 
on  the  28th  May,  but  "  modestly  rested  .his  pretensions  to  rank 
only  on  the  commission  he  held  as  the  eldest  of  the  first  grades 
of  lieutenants  in  the  navy,  under  the  United  Colonies  ;  because 
by  all  rule  and  example  of  military  promotion,  that  commission 
entitled  him  to  rank  before  all  persons  who  did  not  enter  into 
the  sea  service  of  the  continent  as  early  as  himself,  unless  pre- 
ference had  been  given  to  other  gentlemen,  on  account  of  their 
known  superior  abilities,  which  had  not  been  the  case.  Con- 
gress referred  the  application  to  the  Honourable  Messrs.  Var- 
num,  Mathews,  and  Clymer.  Mr.  Varnum,  the  chairman,  in- 
formed Captain  Jones  that  the  committee  agreed  in  opinion,  and 
would  report  to  Congress,  that  he  had  been  very  unfairly  treated 
in  the  arrangement  of  naval  rank,  adopted  October  10th,  1776  ; 
and  that  the  conduct  and  services  of  Captain  Jones  had  merited 
that  he  should  be  promoted  to  the  rank  of  rear  admiral.  But 
before  Congress  had  time  to  act  upon  the  report  of  their  com- 
mittee, opposition  was  made  to  the  application  of  Captain 
Jones,  by  one  or  two  captains  whose  names  had  been  placed 
before  him,  on  their  first  introduction  to  the  sea  service  of  the 
continent.  Upon  this  Congress  recommitted  the  report.  But 
this  did  not,  however,  lessen  the  pretensions  of  Captain  Jones, 
either  in  the  opinion  of  the  committee  or  of  Congress."  This 


328  PAUL   JONES. 

remark  is  verified  by  the  acts  of  that  body.  On  the  16th  June, 
the  following  report  was  made  from  the  admiralty  office. 

"  The  board,  to  whom  was  referred  the  letters  and  other 
papers  relative  to  the  conduct  of  John  Paul  Jones,  Esq.  beg 
leave  to  report,  that  they  have  carefully  perused  said  letters 
and  papers,  wherein  they  find  favourable  mention  is  made  of 
his  abilities  as  an  officer  by  the  Duke  de  Vauguyon,  M.  de  Sar- 
tine,  and  Dr.  Franklin ;  and  this  is  also  corroborated  by  that 
valour  and  intrepidity  with  which  he  engaged  his  Britannic 
Majesty's  ship,  the  Serapis,  of  forty-four  cannon,  12  and  18 
pounders,  which,  after  a  severe  contest  for  several  hours,  sur- 
rendered to  his  superior  valour,  thereby  acquiring  honour  to 
himself  and  dignity  to  the  American  flag. 

"  The  board  therefore  humbly  conceive  that  an  honourable 
testimony  should  be  given  to  Captain  Paul  Jones,  commander 
of  the  Bon  Homme  Richard,  his  officers  and  crew,  for  their 
many  singular  services  in  annoying  the  enemy  on  the  British 
coasts,  and  particularly  for  their  spirited  behaviour  in  an  en- 
gagement with  his  Britannic  Majesty's  ship  of  war,  the  Serapis, 
on  the  23d  of  September,  1779,  and  obliging  her  to  surrender 
to  the  American  flag." 

Other  reports  from  the  same  quarter,  recapitulating  the  par- 
ticulars of  Jones'  services,  bore  unequivocal  testimony  to  his 
ingenuous  patriotism,  during  the  whole  course  of  his  engagement 
in  the  public  service.  On  the  23d  June,  it  was  resolved,  that 
Robert  Morris,  Esq.  should  be  authorised  to  take  measures  for 
speedily  launching  and  equipping  for  sea  the  ship  America,  then 
on  the  stocks  at  Portsmouth  in  New  Hampshire,  and  that  Con- 
gress should  proceed,  three  days  thereafter,  to  the  appointment 
of  a  commander  of  that  vessel.  Accordingly,  on  the  26th,  the 
following  entry  is  found  in  the  Journals  :  "  Congress  proceeded 
to  the  appointment  of  a  captain,  to  command  the  ship  America ; 
and,  the  ballots  being  taken,  John  P.  Jones,  Esq.  was  unani- 
mously elected."  Jones  says,  that  other  captains  had  been  put 
in  nomination  against  him  ;  and  as  the  new  ship  was  the  only 
one  of  the  line  then  belonging  to  this  government,  the  competi- 


329 

tion  for  the  command  was  in  fact  a  test  of  the  disposition  Con- 
gress would  make  of  the  delicate  question  of  rank.  He  could 
not  but  have  been  highly  satisfied  with  the  result ;  and  draws  the 
conclusion  that,  by  virtue  of  the  Act  of  Congress,  passed  No- 
vember 15th,  1776,  he  held  after  this  election,  a  rank  equiva- 
lent to  that  of  colonel,  "  with  the  exclusive  rank  of  captain  of 
the  line  ;  while  none  of  the  other  captains,  as  they  had  only 
commanded  frigates  under  forty  guns,  could  claim  any  higher 
rank  than  that  of  lieutenant  colonel.  "  Thus,"  he  continues, 
"  Congress  took  a  delicate  method  to  avoid  cabal,  and  to 
do  justice.  It  was  more  agreeable  to  Captain  Jones  to  be  so 
honourably  elected  captain  of  the  line,  than  to  have  been,  as 
was  proposed  by  the  committee,  raised  at  once  to  the  rank  of 
rear  admiral ;  because  Congress  had  not  then  the  means  of 
giving  him  a  command  suitable  to  that  rank."  In  a  document 
published  in  the  Appendix  to  the  first  part  of  this  work,  his 
opinions  on  the  subject  of  naval  rank,  and  what  should  be  the 
qualifications  of  officers,  are  stated  in  full.  To  that  we  refer  the 
reader  generally,  as  comprising  in  substance  a  variety  of  obser- 
vations made  on  these  subjects  by  him  at  different  periods,  which 
occur  in  several  of  the  letters  and  official  communications  from 
him,  which  are  preserved.  How  much  he  had  reflected  on  the 
topic,  and  how  highly  he  rated  the  dignity  and  duties  of  a  naval 
commander  will  there  be  seen,  and  best  understood. 

The  board  of  admiralty  was  dissolved  at  this  time,  and  Mr. 
Morris,  minister  of  finance,  became  also  minister  of  the 
marine.  He  directed  Jones,  before  proceeding  to  take  com- 
mand of  the  America,  to  exhibit  his  accounts  to  Congress.  He 
had  received  a  small  share  of  prize  money  from  some  of  his 
captures,  but  not  a  farthing  for  pay  or  subsistence  up  to  this 
period.  His  accounts  were  approved  as  exhibited  ;  "  but,"  he 
says  "  there  was  no  interest  allowed  for  considerable  advances 
that  had  been  made  for  nearly  five  years  ;  nor  was  there  any 
thing  allowed  for  his  subsistence,  or  the  various  losses  he  had 
sustained  in  the  service,  as  he  had,  from  delicacy,  left  those 

41 


330  PAUL   JONES. 

items  blank  in  his  accounts."*  He  was  personally  embarrassed 
at  this  time,  as  were  many  of  the  gallant  men  who  were  putting 
at  stake  all  present  interest  and  future  hopes,  in  the  cause  of 
independence,  by  the  poverty  of  the  government.  This  will 
appear  from  a  letter  in  the  subjoined  note.  He  observes  in  his 
journal,  (I  quote  from  the  original  rough  draft  of  this  part  of  it,) 


*  In  Jones'  account  current,  rendered  to  the  marine  committee,  as  per  date,  on  the 
34th  October,  1777,  the  balance  due  to  him,  "  exclusive  of  any  concern  with  the  ship 
Ranger,  balance  of  wages,  &c."  is  stated  at  £1,538,  Pennsylvania  currency.  A  com- 
mission of  5  per  cent,  is  charged  on  the  sum  total  of  the  amount  charged  against  the 
committee.  In  another  account  rendered  on  the  1st  November,  in  the  same  year  1777, 
the  sum  of  $5,900  is  charged  against  the  committee,  as  bounty  money  advanced  to  the 
crew  of  the  Ranger.  There  is  another  account  of  the  same  date,  made  out  against  the 
committee,  amontingto  $2,891,  for  sundry  expenses  incurred  in  supplying  the  Ranger, 
enlisting  seamen,  overtaking  deserters,  personal  expenses,  &c.  In  an  account,  dated 
at  the  Texel,  November  29th,  1779,  he  charges  352  ducats  for  contingent  disburse- 
ments, 100  of  which  were  paid  to  the  Hull  pilot,  John  Jackson,  "  for  smart  money." 
The  stores  he  bad  purchased  and  lost  in  the  Alliance,  amounted  to  a  considerable  item. 
These  are  all  the  particulars  contained  in  the  vouchers  in  the  compiler's  hands,  dated 
previous  to  the  year  1781.  On  the  26th  of  June,  in  that  year,  he  rendered  his  account 
as  mentioned  in  the  text.  He  charges  for  pay,  as  the  senior  first  lieutenant  of  the 
navy,  twenty  dollars  per  month,  from  December  7th,  1775,  to  May  10th,  1776 ;  and, 
as  captain  in  the  navy  from  that  period  to  the  date  of  the  account,  sixty  dollars  per 
month,  making  £1,400  5s,  Pennsylvania  currency.  In  a  certified  copy  of  his  account 
current,  by  which  it  appears  that  there  was  due  to  him  in  Pennsylvania  currency 
£2,034,  he  makes  the  following  charge,  in  blank,  after  stating  a  balance  :  "  To  rations 
from  the  7th  of  December,  1775,  to  this  date,  for  myself  and  servant,  having  com- 
manded a  squadron  in  Europe ;"  and  thereunder  is  written,  •'  Due  the  Chevalier  Paul 
Jones  ,"  also  in  blank,  leaving  it  to  Congress  to  make  such  allowance  as  they 

might  deem  proper.  None  was  made,  as  is  stated  in  the  text.  The  following  letter, 
written  two  days  after  the  date  of  this  account  current,  will  show  that  Jones  was  in 
immediate  want  of  resources  for  personal  comfort  and  convenience. 

"  Philadelphia,  July 'US,  1781. 
"  SIR, 

"  In  consequence  of  the  Act  of  the  United  States,  in  Congress  assembled,  of  the  25th 
of  this  month,  approving  of  my  accounts,  No.  1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  6,  and  7,  and  referring  them 
to  the  board  of  treasury,  to  take  order,  I  have  waited  on  that  board  in  hopes  of  receiving 
cash  to  the  amount  of  £400,  to  pay  small  debts  I  owe  in  this  city,  and  defray  the 
expenses  of  my  journey  to  Portsmonth  in  New  Hampshire ;  but  the  board  has  not 


PAUL   JONES.  331 

"  he  had,  like  many  other  supporters  of  the  revolution,  hurt  his 
private  fortune,  by  the  early  advances  he  had  made  to  the  con- 
tinental loan  office." 

He  was  assured  that  ways  and  means  would  be  provided  for 
him  to  put  to  sea,  within  six  months  from  the  day  of  his  election 
as  commander  of  the  America.  He  conferred  with  Mr.  Morris 
on  the  plan  he  had  suggested  to  the  French  ministry,  of  form- 
ing a  light  combined  squadron  to  annoy  the  enemy ;  and  that 
gentleman  assented  to  its  utility.  The  chevalier  left  Philadel- 
phia, as  he  expresses  himself.  "  with  a  pleasing  hope  of  being 
soon  in  a  situation  that  would  enable  him  to  manifest  his  grati- 
tude for  the  honours  he  had  received,  by  rendering  essential 
services  to  the  common  cause  of  America  and  France."  On 
his  way  to  Portsmouth,  he  paid  a  visit  to  General  Washington 
and  Count  Rochambeau,  at  White  Plains,  where  the  combined 
armies  were  encamped.  He  wore  his  cross  as  Chevalier  of  the 
order  of  Merit,  on  this  occasion ;  but,  he  says,  as  it  was  hinted  to 
him  that  he  might  offend  the  people  of  the  eastern  States,  by 


complied  with  my  demand.  In  my  letter  to  your  excellency,  dated  the  17th  of  this 
month,  I  observed  that,  I  had  been  obliged  to  borrow  a  considerable  part  of  the  cash 
I  had  advanced  for  the  public  service.  And  the  accounts  from  No.  1,  to  6  inclusive, 
being  cash  I  have  advanced,  (a  considerable  part  whereof  from  four  to  five  years  ago,) 
I  hope  Congress  will  be  pleased  to  order  that  the  said  accounts,  from  No.  1  to  6  inclu 
sivc.  be  paid  either  in  cash  or  bills  of  exchange  on  Europe,  to  enable  me  to  pay  the 
debts  I  have  contracted  in  France.  I  have  made  no  charge  for  interests  on  the  advance* 
I  have  made :  but  submit  that  matter  to  Congress,  to  allow  it  or  not  as  they  think  fit. 
I  pray  the  honourable  House  to  direct,  that  I  may  be  furnished  immediately  with  cash, 
to  the  amount  of  £400,  to  enable  me  to  proceed  to  New  Hampshire,  to  testify  by  my 
conduct  the  very  grateful  sense  I  have  of  the  high  honour  Congress  has  conferred  on 
me  by  my  late  appointment.  It  is  necessity  alone  that  compels  me  to  make  this  appli- 
cation, having  no  friends  of  my  own  at  this  time  in  a  situation  to  answer  my  want*, 
and  having  failed  in  attempts  to  borrow.  I  am  with  profound  respect, 

"  Sir,  your  excellency's  most  obedient,  and  most  humble  servant, 

"  His  Ex.  THO.  M.  KEAN,  Esq.  (Signed.)  "  THE  CHEVALIER  PAUL  JONES. 

"  President  of  the  U.  States  in  Congress  assembled. 

"  N.  B.  The  balance  due  on  the  within  mentioned  accounts,  exclusive  of  interest. 
Arc.  is  £5,413,  18s,  7  3-4/f.  And  the  rations  ought  to  be  also  allowed  in  proportion  to 
equal  rank  and  command  in  the  army,  deducting  only  the  time  occupied  in  the  journej 
as  expressed  in  the  detail  of  charges." 


332  PAUL   JONES. 

continuing  to  exhibit  that  article,  he  laid  it  aside  as  soon  as  he 
had  left  head  quarters. 

He  thus  proceeds  with  his  commentaries  :  "  On  his  arrival  at 
Portsmouth,  which  was  at  the  end  of  August,  he  found  his  pro- 
spects greatly  circumscribed,  and  involved  in  many  difficulties, 
that  neither  his  friends  nor  himself  had  foreseen  at  Philadelphia. 
The  America,  instead  of  being  ready  to  be  launched,  was  not 
half  built;  and  there  was  neither  timber,  iron,  nor  any  other 
material  prepared  for  finishing  her.  Money  would  not  have 
procured  the  necessary  articles  of  equipment  and  men  before 
winter.  But  money  was  wanting ;  for  the  navy  board  at  Boston 
had  otherwise  applied  the  funds,  which  the  minister  of  finance 
had  destined  for  the  America  ;  and  he  had  so  many  demands 
to  meet,  on  account  of  the  troops  then  detached  from  White 
Plains,  on  the  secret  expedition  against  Lord  Cornwallis  in  Vir- 
ginia, that  he  found  it  impossible  to  make  the  necessary  ad- 
vances. -  The  business  was,  however,  begun  immediately,  and 
some  progress  made  in  the  construction  before  the  winter. 

In  a  letter  written  by  him  to  the  secretary  of  the  admiralty 
at  Boston,  on  the  24th  of  November  in  this  year,  he  says  :  "I 
wish  you  to  see  as  well  as  hear  the  situation  of  aifairs  here, 
that  we  may  either  adopt  effectual  measures,  or  give  up  a  fruit- 
less pursuit."  In  the  same  letter  he  mentions  it  as  a  matter 
of  reproach  to  the  service,  that  the  officers  of  the  Alliance  had 
sold  some  of  the  articles  on  board,  which  were  his  private  pro- 
perty ;  and  had  not  been  called  to  an  account,  "  for  their  re- 
peated misconduct,  mutiny,  and  rebellion  in  that  ship ;"  and 
that  "  a  board  had  received  with  approbation  other  officers, 
who  had  deserted  from  the  service  in  Europe."  He  speaks  of 
these  things  as  matters  of  report,  and  some  of  them  probably 
were  no  more.  Congress  had  far  more  important  business  on 
hand. 

The  capitulation  of  Cornwallis  in  the  middle  of  October,  and 
the  events  preceding  and  consequent  upon  it,  formed  the  subjects 
of  a  letter  from  Jones  to  La  Fayette,  as  we  learn  from  the  fol- 
lowing reply,  dated  December  22d 


PALL   JONES.  333 

"  I  have  been  honoured  with  your  polite  favour,  my  dear  Paul 
Jones,  but  before  it  reached  me  I  was  already  on  board  the  Al- 
liance, and  every  minuf^  expecting  to  put  to  sea.  It  would 
have  afforded  me  great  satisfaction  to  pay  my  respects  to  the 
inhabitants  of  Portsmouth,  and  the  State  in  which  you  are  for 
the  present.  As  to  the  pleasure  to  take  you  by  the  hand,  my 
dear  Paul  Jones,  you  know  my  affectionate  sentiments,  and  my 
very  great  regard  for  you,  so  that  I  need  not  add  any  thing  on 
that  subject. 

"  Accept  of  my  best  thanks  for  the  kind  expressions  in  your 
letter.  His  Lordship's  (Lord  Cornwallis)  downfall  is  a  great 
event,  and  the  greater,  as  it  was  equally  and  amicably  shared 
by  the  two  allied  nations.  Your  coming  to  the  army  I  had  the 
honour  to  command,  would  have  been  considered  as  a  very  flat- 
tering compliment  to  one  who  loves  you  and  knows  your  worth. 
I  am  impatient  to  hear  that  you  are  ready  to  sail ;  and  I  am 
of  opinion  that  we  ought  to  unite  under  you  every  continental 
ship  we  can  muster,  with  such  a  body  of  well  appointed  marines 
(troupes  de  mer)  as  might  cut  a  good  figure  ashore,  and  then 
give  you  plenty  of  provisions  and  carte  blancJie. 

"  I  am  sorry  I  cannot  see  you ;  I  also  had  many  things  to  tell 
you.  Write  me  by  good  opportunities,  but  not  often  in  ciphers, 
unless  the  matter  is  very  important." 

Three  days  after  the  date  of  this  letter,  we  find  Jones  indi- 
ting the  following  matter  to  the  anonymous  lady  in  France. 

"  I  wrote  my  most  lovely  Delia  various  letters  from  Philadel 
phia,  the  last  of  which  was  dated  the  20th  of  June.  On  the 
26th  of  that  month  I  was  unanimously  elected  by  Congress  to 
command  the  America  of  74  guns,  on  the  stocks,  at  Portsmouth, 
New  Hampshire.  I  superintended  the  building,  which  I  found 
so  much  more  backward  than  I  expected,  that  a  plan  of  opera- 
tion I  had  in  view  is  entirely  defeated.  I  expected  to  have  been 
at  sea  this  winter,  but  the  building  does  not  go  on  with  the 
vigour  I  could  wish.  Since  I  came  here  I  have  not  found  a  single 
good  opportunity  to  write  to  Europe.  I  have  not  since  heard 
from  your  relation  I  left  behind,  but  suppose  he  is  with  the 


334  PAUL   JONES. 

army.  This  situation  is  doubly  irksome  to  me,  my  lovely  friend, 
as  it  stops  my  pursuit  of  honour  as  well  as  love !  It  is  now  more 
than  twelve  months  since  I  left  Franc*  ^  yet  I  have  not  received 
a  single  letter  from  thee  in  all  that  time,  except  the  one  written 
in  answer  to  my  letter  at  taking  leave.  That  one  is  a  tender 
letter  indeed,  and  does  honour  to  thy  matchless  heart !" 

The  "  plan  of  operation"  was  not  only  defeated,  but  Jones 
was  again  to  be  altogether  disappointed,  in  obtaining  command 
of  the  America,  as  he  had  been  in  the  case  of  the  Indien.  We 
are,  however,  anticipating  forthcoming  events  ;  the  unavoida- 
ble fault  of  all  who  have  undertaken  a  biography  of  this  com- 
mander. What  John  Adams  thought  of  his  plans  of  operation 
at  this  time,  appears  from  the  following  extracts  of  a  letter, 
dated  at  the  Hague,  August  12th,  1782. 

"  The  command  of  the  America  could  not  have  been  more 
judiciously  bestowed,  and  it  is  with  impatience  that  I  wish  her 
at  sea,  where  she  will  do  honour  to  her  name.  Nothing  gives 
me  so  much  surprise,  or  so  much  regret,  as  the  inattention  of 
my  countrymen  to  their  navy  ;  it  is  a  bulwark  as  essential  as  it 
is  to  Great  Britain.  It  is  less  costly  than  armies  ;  and  more 
easily  removed  from  one  end  of  the  United  States  to  the  other. 
*  *  *  *  Every  day  shows  that  the  Batavians  have  not  wholly  lost 
their  ancient  character.  They  were  always  timid  and  slow  in 
adopting  their  political  systems,  but  always  firm  and  able  in 
support  of  them,  and  always  brave  and  active  in  war.  They 
have  hitherto  been  restrained  by  their  chiefs  ;  but,  if  the  war 
continues,  they  will  show  that  they  are  possessed  of  the  spirit  of 
liberty,  and  that  they  have  lost  none  of  their  great  qualities. 
"  Rodney's  victory  has  intoxicated  Britain  again  to  such  a  de- 
gree that  I  think  there  will  be  no  peace  for  some  time.  Indeed, 
if  I  could  see  a  prospect  of  half  a  dozen  line  of  battle  ships  under 
the  American  flag,  commanded  by  Commodore  Paul  Jones,  en- 
gaged with  an  equal  British  force,  I  apprehend  the  event  would 
be  so  glorious  for  the  United  States,  and  lay  so  sure  a  founda- 
tion for  their  prosperity,  that  it  would  be  a  rich  compensation  for 
a  continuance  of  the  war. 


PAUL   JONES.  335 

"  However,  it  does  not  depend  upon  us  to  finish  it.  There  is 
but  one  way  to  finish  it,  and  that  is,  Burgoynizing  Carlton  in 
New  York." 

It  will  be  proper  to  remember  that  the  independence  of  the 
United  States  had  been  recognised  by  those  of  Holland  in  April, 
previous  to  the  date  of  this  letter  ;  that  a  commercial  treaty  was 
made  in  October  following ;  that  the  "  intoxication"  of  the  people 
of  Great  Britain  soon  passed  away,  so  far  as  that  can  be  called 
an  expression  of  popular  opinion,  which  is  not  a  direct  one ;  and 
that  the  English  government  now  began  to  give  up  the  idea  of 
waging  war  against  these  United  States,  because  they  could  not 
carry  it  on  any  longer. 

Jones  says,  that  the  task  of  inspecting  the  construction  of  the 
America,  was  "  the  most  lingering  and  disagreeable  service  he 
was  charged  with  during  the  period  of  the  revolution.  *  •*  *  * 
But  from  the  beginning,  and  almost  to  the  end  of  the  business, 
he  had  a  prospect  of  carrying  into  effect  by  perseverance,  the 
plan  he  had  suggested  for  forming  a  light  combined  squadron. 
When  the  news  of  the  surrender  of  Earl  Cornwallis  reached 
Portsmouth,  a  public  rejoicing  took  place  ;  and  as  Captain  Jones 
found  it  would  not  offend  the  people,  he,  on  that  glad  occasion, 
resumed  the  decoration  of  military  merit,  and  continued  to  wear 
it  afterwards.  As  soon  as  the  enemy  had  advice  that  there 
was  a  prospect  of  finishing  the  America,  various  schemes  were 
suggested  for  destroying  that  ship.  Intelligence  of  this  was 
sent  to  Portsmouth,  in  cipher,  by  the  minister  of  marine. 
Captain  Jones  made  application  to  the  government  of  New 
Hampshire  for  a  guard,  to  protect  the  vessel ;  and  the  assembly 
passed  a  resolution  to  comply  with  his  demand.  None  was, 
however,  furnished  ;  and,  as  a  second  alarm  was  sent  to  New 
Hampshire  by  General  Washington,  Mr.  Hackett,  the  master 
builder  and  his  associate  were  prevailed  on  to  mount  guard, 
with  a  party  of  the  carpenters,  by  night."  For  some  time  he 
paid  this  guard  himself;  and  took  command  of  it,  in  his  turn, 
with  the  master  builders.  Large  whale  boats,  with  muffled 
oars,  came  into  the  river,  meanwhile,  full  of  men,  "  and  passed 


336  PAUL   JONES. 

and  repassed  the  America  in  the  night ;  but  dared  not  land  on 
the  little  island  where  she  was  built." 

The  birth  of  the  Dauphin  of  France  was  officially  communi- 
cated to  Congress  in  the  summer  of  1782.  Public  rejoicings 
took  place  in  several  of  the  States  in  consequence.  Jones  did 
not  ""let  slip  the  opportunity,"  as  he  phrases  it,  "of  testifying 
the  pleasure  and  gratitude  which  he  really  felt."  At  his  private 
expense  he  had  artillery  mounted  on  board  of  the  America. 
She  was  decorated  with  the  flags  of  different  nations,  displaying 
in  front  that  of  France  ;  "  fired  salutes  as  often  as  the  forts, 
and  thirteen  royal  salutes  at  the  toast  drunk  at  a  public  enter- 
tainment, and  afterwards  continued  &feu  dejoie  until  midnight. 
When  it  became  dark,  she  was  brilliantly  illuminated  and  dis- 
played fire-works."*  The  Chevalier  de  la  Luzerne,  addressed 
to  him  a  complimentary  letter  in  consequence.  Jones  dwells 
with  pleasure  on  matters  of  this  kind ;  and  they  belong  to  the 
reminiscences  of  the  period.  On  the  anniversary  of  our  inde- 
pendence in  that  year  he  "  made  a  similar  rejoicing." 

He  gives  the  following  description  of  the  America  :  "  Captain 
Jones  did  not  approve  nor  follow  the  plan  that  had  been  pro- 
posed for  finishing  the  upper  works  of  the  America.  It  had 
been  intended  to  make  the  waist  shallow  with  narrow  gang- 
ways ;  the  quarter-deck  and  forecastle  to  be  short,  with  a  large 
stern-gallery.  Instead  of  this,  the  quarter-deck  was  made  to 
project  four  feet  before  the  main-mast.  The  forecastle  was 
also  long,  the  waist  deep,  and  the  gangways  broad  and  of  equal 
height  with  the  quarter-deck  and  forecastle.  There  was  just 
room  for  the  boats  between  the  gangways.  A  breast-work, 
pierced  with  gun-ports,  but  of  suitable  height  for  musketry,  and 


*  la  one  of  the  manuscripts  preserved  among  the  papers  of  Jones  there  is  a  formal 
bulletin  in  French  of  this  "  celebration  made  by  Commodore  Jones,  at  his  own  ex- 
pense, on  board  the  America,  &c."  We  learn  from  it  that  three  large  lanterns  were 
devised  for  the  occasion,  and  that  the  fire-works  continued  until  midnight.  They  had 
a  very  brilliant  effect  from  the  circumstance  that  it  was  a  very  dark  night.  All  the  in- 
habitants of  the  town,  and  its  vicinity,  were  assembled  on  the  banks  of  the  river,  and 
testified  their  admiration  by  every  possible  show  of  applause. 


PAUL   JONES.  337 

of  the  same  strength  and  nature  as  the  sides  of  the  ship,  ran  all 
round  the  quarter-deck,  gangway,  and  forecastle ;  so  that  all 
the  cannon  oh  the  quarter-deck  and  forecastle  could  have  been 
fought  on  one  side  ;  an  advantage  possessed  by  no  other  ship  of 
the  line  we  had.  Above  this  breast-work,  the  poop-deck  stood 
on  pillars  of  eighteen  inches  long,  and  projected  eight  feet  be- 
fore the  mizen-mast.  Round  the  poop-deck  a  folding  breast- 
work was  made  of  light  materials,  and  of  a  strength  to  resist 
grape-shot ;  and,  as  it  was  made  to  fold  down  on  the  deck,  and 
could  be  raised  again  in  a  minute,  it  was  impossible  to  perceive 
that  the  America  had  a  poop,  at  the  distance  of  a  quarter  of  a 
mile.  There  were  only  single  quarter-galleries,  and  no  stern- 
gallery  ;  and  both  the  stern  and  bow  were  made  very  strong,  so 
that  the  men  at  quarters  might  be  every  where  under  a  good 
cover.  The  plan  which  Captain  Jones  projected  for  the  sculp- 
ture expressed  dignity  and  simplicity.  The  head  was  a  female 
figure,  crowned  with  laurels.  The  right  arm  was  raised,  with 
the  forefinger  pointing  to  heaven ;  as  appealing  to  that  high 
tribunal  for  the  justice  of  the  American  cause.  On  the  left 
arm  was  a  buckler,  with  a  blue  ground  and  thirteen  silver  stars. 
The  legs  and  feet  of  the  figure  were  covered  here  and  there  with 
wreaths  of  smoke,  to  represent  the  dangers  and  difficulties  of 
war.  On  the  stern,  under  the  windows  of  the  great  cabin,  ap- 
peared two  large  figures  in  bas-relief;  representing  Tyranny 
and  Oppression,  bound  and  biting  the  ground,  with  the  cap  of 
Liberty  on  a  pole,  above  their  heads.  On  the  back  part  of  the 
starboard  quarter-gallery  was  a  large  Neptune ;  and,  on  the 
back  part  of  the  larboard  quarter-gallery,  a  large  Mars.  Over 
the  windows  of  the  great  cabin,  on  the  highest  part  of  the  stern, 
was  a  large  medallion,  on  which  was  a  figure,  representing 
Wisdom,  surrounded  by  Danger,  with  the  bird  of  Athens  over 
her  head.  The  America  was  fifty  feet  six  inches,  in  the  ex- 
treme breadth,  and  measured  a  hundred  and  eighty-two  feet 
six  inches,  on  the  upper  gun-deck.  Yet  this  ship,  though  the 
largest  of  seventy-four  guns  in  the  world,  had,  when  the  lower 
battery  was  sunk,  the  air  of  a  delicate  frigate  ;  and  no  person 

42 


338  PAUL  JONES. 

at  the  distance  of  a  mile,  could  have  imagined  she  had  a  second 
battery." 

It  would  not  have  been  proper  to  omit  this  description  of  a 
fine  ship,  which  must  be  interesting  to  those  who  have  skill 
enough  to  criticise  her  construction.  As  for  the  devices,  we 
are  somewhat  at  a  loss  to  know  how  Danger  was  represented. 
It  could  not  have  been  personified,  as  surrounding  Wisdom  ;  and 
was  probably  emblematically  expressed  by  flashes  of  lightning, 
&c.  Those  who  have  no  technical  knowledge  whatever,  but 
who  have  read  the  works  of  our  countryman  Cooper,  will  readily 
recognise  in  the  picture  Jones  gives  of  the  ship  built  under  his 
direction,  the  same  beau-ideal  of  combined  grace  and  strength 
after  which  the  vessel  commanded  by  the  Red  Rover,  and  that 
navigated  by  the  Pilot,  were  modelled ;  beautiful  in  their  pro- 
portions as  Semele,  and,  like  her,  delivered  in  thunder. 

But  this  fair  frigate  was  not  to  be  commanded  by  him  who 
had  watched  her  construction  for  more  than  a  year,  with  the 
hope  of  "  moving  the  monarch  of  her  peopled  deck."  At  the 
close  of  the  summer  of  this  year,  the  Magnifique,  a  seventy-four 
gun  ship,  belonging  to  the  French  squadron  under  the  Marquis 
de  Vaudreuil,  was  lost  by  accident  in  the  harbour  of  Boston. 
Policy,  and  perhaps  equity,  rendered  it  expedient  for  Congress 
to  present  to  France  their  solitary  ship  of  the  line  ;  and  a  reso- 
lution to  that  effect  was  passed  on  the  3d  of  September.  Other 
motives  may  have  had  their  weight,  in  making  this  disposition 
of  the  America  ;  and  they  seem  to  be  alluded  to  in  the  following 
letter  from  Mr.  Morris,  written  the  day  after  the  resolution  was 
adopted. 

"  Marine  Office,  September  4, 1782. 
"  DEAR  SIR, 

"  The  enclosed  resolution  will  show  you  the  destination  of 
the  ship  America.  Nothing  could  be  more  pleasing  to  me  than 
this  disposition,  excepting  so  far  as  you  are  affected  by  it.  I 
know  you  so  well  as  to  be  convinced  that  it  must  give  you  great 
pain,  and  I  sincerely  sympathize  with  you.  But  although  you 


PAUL   JONES.  339 

will  undergo  much  concern  at  being  deprived  of  this  opportunity 
to  reap  laurels  on  your  favourite  field,  yet  your  regard  for 
France  will  in  some  measure  alleviate  it ;  and  to  this  your  good 
sense  will  naturally  add  the  delays  which  must  have  happened 
in  fitting  the  ship  for  sea.  I  must  entreat  you  to  continue  your 
inspection  until  she  is  launched,  and  to  urge  forward  the  busi- 
ness. When  that  is  done,  if  you  will  come  hither  I  will  explain 
to  you  the  reasons  which  led  to  this  measure,  and  my  views  of 
employing  you  in  the  service  of  your  country.  You  will  on  your 
route  have  an  opportunity  of  conferring  with  the  general  on  the 
blow  you  mentioned  to  me  in  one  of  your  letters."  *  *  *  * 
Jones  submitted  to  his  disappointment,  for  such  it  must  have 
been,  without  any  ebullitions  of  vexation,  or  murmurs  of  discon- 
tent. In  his  journal,  he  says,  that  "  he  was  not  made  ac- 
quainted with  the  minister's  project  for  employing  him,  after 
the  America  should  be  launched.*  And  the  Act  of  Congress  of 
September  3d,  after  all  the  pains  he  had  taken  for  sixteen 
months  to  finish  that  ship,  did  not  even  mention  his  name; 
which  notice,  it  is  presumed,  might  not  have  been  inconsis- 
tent with  the  dignity  of  that  Act,  nor  disagreeable  to  the  mo- 
narch who  honoured  him  with  particular  marks  of  his  attention. 
Captain  Jones  had  had  before  him  no  good  prospect ;  and  the 
America  was  the  tenth  command  of  which  he  had  been  deprived 
in  the  course  of  the  Revolution.  Had  it  been  possible  for  him 
to  foresee  the  lingering,  disagreeable  situation  that  awaited  him 
at  Portsmouth,  he  would  have  thanked  Congress  for  the  honour 
they  did  him,  by  unanimously  electing  him  to  that  command, 
and  asked  their  permission  to  join  the  army  in  Virginia,  under 
his  friend  the  Marquis  de  La  Fayette,  who,  by  a  letter  he  wrote 
Captain  Jones,  December  22d,  1781,  [which  has  been  inserted,] 
showed  how  glad  he  would  have  been  of  that  event ,  and  that 
his  ideas  corresponded  with  the  plan  Captain  Jones  had  sug- 


*  It  must  be  remembered  that  a  rougli  original  draft  is  quoted  from.     It  is  more 
to  be  relied  upon  because  it  is  such. 


340  PAUL   JONES. 

gested  to  the  court  of  France,  for  forming  a  combined  squadron ; 
but  which  had  not  been  communicated  to  the  Marquis.  Cap- 
tain Jones  bore  his  disappointment  with  firmness,  and  answered 
the  minister's  letter,  on  the  22d  of  September,  in  a  manner  so 
gallant,  as  produced  a  flattering  answer  in  a  letter  of  the  9th  of 
October/' 

The  answer  was  as  follows:  "  I  have  received  your  letter  of 
the  22d  of  last  month.  The  sentiments  contained  in  it  will 
always  reflect  the  highest  honour  upon  your  character.  They 
have  made  so  strong  an  impression  upon  my  mind,  that  I  im- 
mediately transmitted  an  extract  of  your  letter  to  Congress.  I 
doubt  not,  but  they  will  view  it  in  the  same  manner  which  I 
have  done." 

Jones  proceeds  in  his  rough  notes,  to  say,  that  "he  urged 
forward  the  business  of  launching  the  America,  with  his  utmost 
energy.  The  difficulties  were  great.  The  ship  was  built  on  a 
very  small  island,  situated  in  the  river  opposite  the  town  of 
Portsmouth,  belonging  to  the  agent  for  supplying  the  materials. 
Between  the  stern  and  the  opposite  shore,  which  was  a  continual 
rock,  the  distance  was  no  more  than  a  hundred  fathoms.  From 
a  few  feet  above  the  stern,  a  ledge  of  rocks  projected  two  thirds 
of  the  distance  across  the  river,  making  only  an  angle  of  twenty 
degrees  with  the  keel.  And,  from  a  small  bay  on  the  opposite 
shore,  the  tide  of  flood  continued  to  run  with  rapidity,  directly 
over  this  ledge,  for  more  than  an  hour  after  it  was  high  water 
by  the  shore.  It  was  necessary  to  launch  exactly  at  high  water, 
and  to  give  the  ship  such  a  motion,  as  would  make  her  pass 
round  the  point  of  the  ledge  of  rocks,  without  touching  the  op- 
posite shore ;  which,  it  is  easy  to  perceive,  was  a  difficult  mat- 
ter. It  was  impossible  to  fix  stoccades  in  the  river,  on  account 
of  the  current  and  the  rocks.  This  defect  could  only  be  supplied 
by  anchors  and  cables.  A  large  anchor  was  fixed  in  the  ground, 
under  the  bow,  from  which  depended  cables  of  a  proper  length 
and  ranged  in  a  manner  so  as  to  be  drawn  gently  after  the  ship, 
when  put  in  motion,  and  with  various  slight  stoppers  at  proper 
distances,  to  break  one  after  another,  so  as  to  diminish  her 


PAUL   JONES.  341 

velocity  by  degrees.  When  every  thing  was  prepared,  Captain 
Jones  stood  on  the  highest  part  of  the  brow,  or  gangway  that 
ascended  from  the  ground  to  the  bow  of  the  ship.  From  that 
position  he  could  perfectly  see  the  motion  of  the  ship  ;  and  de- 
termine by  a  signal  the  instant  when  it  was  proper  to  let  go  one 
or  both  of  the  anchors  that  were  hung  at  the  bows,  and  slip  the 
end  of  the  cable  that  depended  on  the  anchor,  fixed  in  the  ground 
on  the  island.  The  operation  succeeded  perfectly  to  his  wish, 
and  to  the  admiration  of  a  large  assembly  of  spectators."  Thus 
was  the  America  launched  ;  and  well  might  Jones  have  recited 
the  "**c  vos  non  vobis,"  as  she  went  into  the  water.  It  is  for 
those  who  are  scientific,  and  know  the  localities,  to  judge  criti- 
cally of  the  fitness  of  the  means  adopted  to  introduce  her  into  the 
element  over  which  she  was  to  bear  the  flag  of  France.  Jones 
commends  highly  the  perseverance  and  ingenuity  of  the  master 
builder,  Major  Hackett,  who  had  never  seen  a  ship  of  the  line 
when  he  drew  her  plan ;  and  who  had  no  more  than  twenty 
carpenters  at  work,  at  any  time,  while  her  construction  was  in 
progress.  He  says,  "  the  workmanship  was  far  superior  to  any 
before  seen  in  naval  architecture  ;  and  it  would  only  have  been 
necessary  that  the  Abbe  Reynal  should  have  seen  the  America, 
to  have  induced  him  to  give  the  world  a  very  .different  idea  of 
the  continent,  of  which  that  elegant  ship  bore  the  name." 

The  flags  of  the  two  allies  were  displayed  on  the  poop  at  the 
launch  ;  and  Jones,  having  caused  the  ship  to  be  safely  moored, 
delivered  her  on  the  same  day,  November  5th,  to  the  Chevalier 
de  Martigne,  who  had  commanded  the  Magnifique.  He  set 
out  for  Philadelphia  on  the  next  morning,  and  there  learned 
"that  unforeseen  circumstances  had  defeated  the  project  for 
employing  him  on  a  secret  expedition."  When  La  Fayette 
requested  him  "  not  to  write  often  in  ciphers,"  he  expressed  a 
wish  in  which  every  one,  whose  business  or  pleasure  it  is  to 
make  out  his  history,  will  cordially  sympathize.  The  Chevalier 
himself,  however,  explains  in  the  same  document  we  have  been 
quoting  from,  what  this  secret  expedition  was.  He  says,  that 
when  he  "  determined  to  return  to  America,  to  submit  his  con- 


PAUL   JONES. 

duct  to  the  judgment  of  Congress,"  with  the  hope  of  command- 
ing a  combined  squadron  by  which  he  might  annoy  the  enemy, 
"  as  the  Indien  was  not  thought  necessary  to  assist  in  effecting 
the  scheme,  the  king  lent  her  for  three  years  to  the  Chevalier 
de  Luxembourg;  and  that  nobleman  contracted  with  Commo- 
dore Gillan,  in  the  service  of  the  State  of  South  Carolina  to 
command  that  ship,"  the  prince  having  his  share  of  the  profits 
arising  from  the  sale  of  prizes.  When  the  Indien  sailed,  which 
was  not  until  long  after  Jones  left  the  Texel,  it  was  under  the 
name  of  the  South  Carolina.  She  took  some  merchantmen 
and  carried  them  to  Havana ;  and  thence,  on  her  way  to 
Philadelphia,  joined  the  convoy  destined  against  New  Provi- 
dence, which  surrendered  immediately  to  the  Spanish  arms. 
She  arrived  in  Philadelphia  in  a  condition  which  rendered  great 
repairs  necessary.  It  was  Mr.  Morris'  intention,  according  to 
Jones,  to  give  him  the  command  of  this  vessel,  the  time  for 
which  she  had  been  chartered  having  nearly  expired;  the  terms 
of  the  charter  being,  that  she  should,  at  its  expiration  be  deliver- 
ed in  good  order,  in  a  port  of  France,  and  Chevalier  de  la  Lu- 
zerne  on  behalf  of  the  king  of  France  "  yielding  his  most  ready 
concurrence.  It  was  their  intention  to  join  the  Gaudaloupe 
frigate  and  some  other  force,  and  put  the  whole  under  the  orders 
of  Captain  Jones."  Colonel  Laurens  "  had  made  large  ad- 
vances to  Commodore  Gillan  in  Holland,  on  account  of  the 
United  States,  on  condition  that  he  would  transport  a  quantity 
of  clothing  to  America,  for  the  army  under  General  Washing- 
ton. No  account  had  been  rendered  to  the  Chevalier  de  Lux- 
embourg of  prize  money,  &c.  and  he  had  sent  powers  to  the 
Chevalier  de  la  Luzerne"  to  insist  upon  his  rights.  Mr.  Morris 
on  behalf  of  the  United  States,  and  the  French  ambassador  on 
behalf  of  the  prince,  thus  severally  urged  demands  against 
Commodore  Gillan,  who,  far  from  being  able  to  meet  them,  if 
they  were  well  founded,  "  found  infinite  difficulty  in  procuring 
the  necessary  funds  for  repairs."  The  two  ministers  had  there- 
fore, "  concluded  that  the  State  of  South  Carolina,  and  even 
Commodore  Gillan  himself,  would  easily  consent  to  resign  all 


PAUL   JONES.  343 

further  pretension  to  the  frigate  in  question.  *  *  *  *  They  were, 
however,  mistaken,  and  Commodore  Gillan  out-generalled  them 
both.  When  they  found  he  had  got  the  ship  below  the  che- 
vaux  de  frise  with  her  cannon  on  board,  and  that  he  was  arrested 
by  the  sheriff  for  a  large  sum,  &c."  Jones  proceeds  to  state  mat- 
ters of  rumour.  The  commodore,  however,  after  remaining 
several  days  on  board,  proceeded  homeward  by  land,  and  the 
South  Carolina  made  sail  and  was  captured.  She  was  an 
unlucky  vessel,  and  the  merchant  who  built  her  in  Holland,  was 
nearly,  if  not  quite,  ruined  by  the  contract. 

Jones  wrote  to  the  minister  of  marine  on  the  29th  November, 
"  requesting  that  unless  Congress  had  some  service  of  greater 
consequence  for  him,  he  might  be  ordered  back  to  Boston,  to 
embark  as  a  volunteer  in  pursuit  of  military  marine  knowledge 
with  his  excellency  the  Marquis  de  Vaudreuil,  in  order  to  enable 
him  the  better  to  serve  his  country,  when  America  should  in- 
crease her  navy."  On  the  same  day,  Mr.  Morris  sent  to  the 
president  of  Congress  a  copy  of  that  letter  with  the  following 
remarks  :  "  The  present  state  of  our  affairs  does  not  permit 
me  to  employ  that  valuable  officer,  and  I  confess  that  it  is  with 
no  small  degree  of  concern  that  I  consider  the  little  probability 
of  rendering  his  talents  useful  to  that  country,  which  he  has 
already  so  faithfully  served,  and  with  so  great  disinterestedness. 

"  His  present  desire  to  be  sent  with  the  Marquis  de  Vau- 
drueil  to  join  Count  d'Estaing  on  his  projected  expedition  from 
Cadiz  against  Jamaica,  <fcc.  consists  with  all  his  former  con- 
duct ;  and  it  will,  I  dare  say,  be  a  very  pleasing  reflection  to 
Congress,  that  he  is  about  to  pursue  a  knowledge  of  his  pro- 
fession, so  as  to  become  still  more  useful  if  ever  he  should  be 
again  called  to  the  command  of  a  squadron  or  fleet.  I  should 
do  injustice  to  my  own  feelings,  as  well  as  to  my  country,  if  I 
did  not  most  warmly  recommend  this  gentleman  to  the  notice 
of  Congress,  whose  favour  he  has  certainly  merited  by  the  most 
signal  services  and  sacrifices." 

Congress  granted  the  request  thus  made;  and  resolved,  "that 
the  agent  of  marine  be  informed  that  Congress  having  a  high 


344  PAUL   JONES. 

sense  of  the  merit  and  services  of  Captain  J.  P.  Jones,  and 
being  disposed  to  favour  the  zeal  manifested  by  him  to  acquire 
improvement  in  the  line  of  his  profession,  do  grant  the  permis- 
sion which  he  requests,  and  that  the  said  agent  be  instructed  to 
recommend  him  accordingly  to  the  countenance  of  his  excel- 
lency the  Marquis  de  Vaudrueil." 

Jones  immediately  repaired  to  Boston,  with  letters  for  the 
Marquis  de  Vaudreuil,  from  Mr.  Morris  and  the  Chevalier  de 
Luzerne.     He  was  received  on  board  of  the  Triomphante,  the 
Marquis'  own  ship,  with  every  mark  of  attention.     That  ves- 
sel  was   very  much    crowded  by  the  army  of  the  Count  de 
Rochambeau,  then  embarked  under  the  orders  of  the  Baron  de 
Viomenil.     Sixty  officers  were  at  table  every  day.     Jones  is 
particular  in  recording,  that  the  Baron  and  the  Marquis  de 
Laval  were  lodged  in  the  larboard  side  of  the  round-house  ;  and 
that  the  starboard  side  was  assigned  to  him.     The  squadron, 
consisting  often  sail  of  the  line,  sailed  on  the  24th  of  December, 
and  gave  convoy  to  several  French  transports  and  twenty  sail 
of  merchantmen.     "  It  was  the  intention  of  the  admiral  to  go 
off  Portsmouth,  to  join  his  brother  the  Count  de  Vaudreuil,  who 
had  in  that  port  under  his  orders,  the  Auguste  of  80  guns,  and 
the  Pluton  of  74.     Wind  and  weather  prevented  the  junction, 
and  the  ships  of  war  were  forced  into  a  disagreeable  situation  in 
the  Bay  of  Fundy,  besides  separating  from  the  convoy.     Event- 
ually the  squadron  steered  to  the  southward,  and  continued  for 
ten  days  off  the  harbour  of  St.  Johns,  in  Porto  Rico,  performing 
various  naval  evolutions.     At  making  the  land,  the  admiral  had 
advice  that  Admiral  Hood,  with  sixteen  ships  of  the  line,  was 
cruising  off  Cape  Frangois  ;  and  that  Admiral  Pigot,  with  a 
greater  force,  lay  at  St.  Lucca.     So  that  the  enemy  imagined 
the  force  under  the  Marquis  de  Vaudreuil  must  necessarily  fall 
a  prey  either  to  Hood  or  Pigot.     The  marquis  took  sixteen  sail 
of  transports  with  provisions  and  stores,  out  of  a  large  convoy 
then    arrived   from    France   at    St.    John's,  and    bore    away 
round  the  west  end  of  Porto  Rico.     Some  of  Admiral  Hood's 
look-out  vessels  got  sight  of  the  squadron  in  the  Mona  passage, 


PAUL   JONES.  345 

and  set  out  immediately  to  give  information  that  the  marquis 
was  proceeding  down  the  south  side  of  Hispaniola.  They  were 
mistaken.  The  squadron  steered  to  the  southward,  by  the  wind, 
and  made  the  island  of  Curagoa  to  windward.  The  rendezvous 
that  had  been  fixed  on  between  Don  Solano,  the  Spanish  ad- 
miral, and  the  Marquis  de  Vaudreuil,  at  Cape  Francois,  after 
the  defeat  of  the  Compte  de  Grasse,  was  kept  a  profound  secret, 
and  no  person  had  an  idea  of  the  intended  port.  The  squadron 
beat  to  windward  for  many  days,  along  the  coast  of  South 
America,  without  either  pilots  or  good  charts.  All  the  trans- 
ports were  driven  to  leeward  by  the  current,  and  lost  sight  of 
the  ships  of  war.  In  the  night,  the  Burgoyne  of  74  guns  ran 
on  a  rock  two  leagues  from  the  shore,  and  was  totally  lost,  with 
two  hundred  of  her  officers  and  men,  among  whom  was  the  first 
lieutenant.  On  the  18th  February,  1783,  the  Triomphante  got 
safe  into  the  road  of  Porto  Cabello,  where  the  Auguste  and 
Pluton  had  arrived  a  few  days  before.  The  remainder  of  the 
squadron  soon  after  arrived  safe.  The  transports,  not  being 
able  to  gain  Porto  Cabello,  bore  away  for  St.  Domingo.  Don 
Solano  had  promised  to  meet  the  marquis  at  Porto  Cabello  in 
December,  but  did  not  keep  his  word.  He  was  superseded  and 
ordered  home  from  the  Havana  to  Spain.  It  was  also  at  Porto 
Cabello,  that  the  combined  force  of  France  and  Spain  from 
Cadiz,  under  Count  d'Estaing,  was  to  join  them  under  Vau- 
dreuil and  Solano.  As  neither  of  these  junctions  took  place, 
and  no  news  arrived  of  the  reasons  of  the  detention,  it  was  most 
disagreeable  to  be  kept  in  inaction,  in  a  place  in  itself  highly 
unpleasant."  Jones  found  it  especially  so.  He  had  hoped 
"  to  see  war  both  by  sea  and  land,  on  a  great  scale,  and  to  learn 
at  the  first  military  school  in  the  world.  Count  d'Estaing 
would  have  found  under  his  command,  in  the  West  Indies, 
upwards  of  seventy  ships  of  the  line,  which,  with  the  great 
combined  land  army  that  was  prepared,  would  infallibly  have 
taken  Jamaica,  and  beaten  the  British  sea  force  in  that  part  of 
the  world.  Captairt  Jones,  as  he  had  known  Jamaica,  flattered 
himself  with  the  expectation  of  having  a  place  near  that  gallant 

43 


346  PAUL  JONES. 

officer,  and  that  he  would  have  been  honoured  with  a  share  of 
his  confidence.  After  much  vain  expectation  and  disappoint- 
ment, several  of  the  officers,  and  Captain  Jones  among  others, 
fell  sick  and  were  dangerously  ill.  At  last  the  news  of  general 
PEACE  arrived,  by  a  frigate  frorn  France  and  Martinico.  The 
most  splendid  success,  and  the  most  improving  experience  in 
war,  could  not  have  afforded  Captain  Jones  a  pleasure  any  way 
to  be  compared  to  what  he  felt  on  learning  that  Great  Britain 
had,  after  so  long  a  struggle,  been  forced  formally  to  acknow- 
ledge the  sovereignty,  freedom,  and  independence  of  the  United 
States  of  America."  He  did  not  write  thus  for  effect.  He  felt 
as  he  wrote,  though  at  a  subsequent  period,  as  he  had  felt  at  the 
time.  He  wrote  from  Porto  Cabello,  to  the  Countess  de  Laven- 
dahl,  among  his  enclosures  to  the  care  of  M.  de  Genet.  French 
ladies  meddle  with  politics ;  which  Buonaparte  thought  a 
nuisance,  though  he  made  use  of  the  custom  for  his  own  ad- 
vancement. Jones  did  so  too  ;  and  though,  in  his  simplicity 
and  imaginativeness,  he  seems  to  have  put  himself  at  one  time,  as 
has  been  remarked,  under  the  necessity  of  making  a  tack  in  his 
correspondence  with  the  one  referred  to,  he  certainly  seemed  to 
think  that  he  had  manoeuvred  himself  completely  out  of  the  dif- 
ficulty into  which  this  small  mistake  had  thrown  him.  In  his 
letter  to  the  countess,  on  the  28th  February,  he  assures  her  that 
"  his  principles  are  invariably  the  same."  He  had  learned  by 
a  letter  from  M.  de  Genet,  that,  the  lady  supposed  he  had  not 
pursued  with  constant  zeal  the  projects  he  contemplated  exe- 
cuting in  France,  and  with  which,  all  secret  as  they  were,  and 
though  M.  de  Chaumont  had  given  him  such  an  awful  warning, 
by  his  communicativeness  not  to  divulge  them,  he  had  made 
the  fair  lady  acquainted.  He  said,  ;'  I  hope  to  return  to  France, 
and  am  persuaded  you  will  rather  feel  compassion  for  my  dis- 
appointment, than  withdraw  from  me  any  part  of  your  esteem." 
The  letter  was  polite  and  politic.  In  his  epistle  to  M.  de  Genet, 
he  returns  his  respectful  compliments  to  Miss  Edes.  That 
lady  could  not,  therefore,  have  been  accessary  to  the  newspa- 
per reports  in  London,  of  the  chevalier's  movements  at  court  in 


PAUL   JONES.  347 

1779 ;  and  they  were  all,  probably,  "  such  stuff  as  dreams  arc 
made  of."  At  the  same  time,  under  cover  to  M.  de  Genet,  he 
transmitted  a  letter  to  the  Marquis  de  Castries,  to  be  submitted 
to  the  inspection  of  the  fair  countess,  giving  an  account  of  his 
position,  and  in  good  set  terms,  requesting  to  be  held  in  re- 
membrance by  his  most  Christian  majesty. 

He  also  wrote  to  the  Due  de  la  Rochefoucault,  from  Porto 
Cabello,  on  the  27th  February,  giving  an  account  of  the  circum- 
stances which  had  placed  him  in  the  squadron.  This  letter 
contains  the  following  remarks  :  "  The  English  affairs  seem  in 
so  bad  a  situation  in  the  East  Indies,  that  I  think  even  the 
most  sanguine  among  them  can  expect  no  manner  of  advantage 
for  continuing  the  war ;  for,  as  Spain  has  at  last  wisely  aban- 
doned the  siege  of  Gibraltar,  and,  as  we  are  told,  doubled  her 
ships  with  copper,  I  cannot  think  the  English  so  blind  as  not  to 
see  the  great  risk  they  run  of  being  as  effectually  humbled  by 
sea,  as  they  are  by  land,  should  they  neglect  the  present  mo- 
ment to  make  their  peace.  *  *  *  *  I  most  ardently  wish  for 
peace ;  for,  humanity  tells  me  there  has  been  too  much  blood 
spilt  already.  I  am  in  hopes  to  have  the  happiness,  soon  after 
the  war,  to  revisit  France." 

On  the  same  day  of  the  month,  he  wrote  to  Mr.  Morris,  giv- 
ing an  account  of  the  operations  of  the  squadron,  and  making 
remarks  on  the  prospect  of  peace  to  the  same  effect  as  those 
above  quoted.  He  says :  "  I  have  already  received  much 
useful  information  since  I  embarked,  and  am  on  such  happy 
terms  with  the  admiral  and  officers,  both  of  the  fleet  and  army, 
that  I  have  nothing  to  wish  from  them.  Deeply  sensible  how 
highly  favoured  I  am,  in  being  thus  placed,  I  beg  you  to  express 
my  gratitude  to  Congress  on  the  occasion,  and  to  the  Chevalier 
de  Luzerne.  The  Marquis  de  Vaudreuil  is  promoted  to  the 
rank  of  lieutenant  general,  and  now  carries  a  vice  admiral's 
flag.  There  are  many  other  promotions  in  the  squadron." 
On  the  15th  March,  writing  to  La  Fayette,  he  expressed  him- 
self in  like  terms  to  those  in  his  letter  to  the  Due  de  la  Roche- 
foucault, in  relation  to  his  losing  the  command  of  the  America, 


348  PAUL  JONES. 

and  the  attention  paid  to  him  on  board  of  the  Triomphante,  and 
by  the  officers  of  the  whole  fleet.  He  adds :  "  I  am  really 
happy  to  hear  that  justice  has  been  rendered  by  his  majesty  to 
such  distinguished  worth  and  exertion  as  yours.  No  less  indeed 
could  be  expected  from  such  a  prince  to  such  a  subject.  We 
hear  you  are  at  Cadiz,  in  order  to  embark  with  his  excellency 
Count  D'Estaing.  This  would  afford  me  the  greatest  pleasure, 
did  not  my  love  of  glory  give  place  to  my  more  ardent  wish  for 
peace,  and  that  you  might  have  the  happiness  to  carry  over  the 
olive  branch,  to  a  country  that  already  owes  you  so  much  grati- 
tude. Humanity  has  need  of  peace ;  but,  though  I  was  led  to 
expect  it  from  the  late  speech  (from  the  throne,)  I  begin  to  fear 
it  is  yet  at  some  distance.  There  seems  to  be  a  malignity  in 
the  English  blood,  which  cannot  be  cured  till,  in  mercy  to  the 
rest  of  mankind,  it  is  let  out,  that  the  disease  may  not  become 
epidemical.  I  pray  you  to  present  my  most  respectful  compli- 
ments to  the  Count  D'Estaing.  If  the  war  continues,  I  hope 
for  the  honour  of  making  the  campaign  under  his  orders." 

The  country  where  he  had  been  stigmatized  as  a  pirate  and 
traitor,  could  not  expect  complimentary  language  from  the 
chevalier.  Yet  in  the  excitement  of  the  moment,  he  said 
more  than  he  meant  to  imply.  The  blood  of  old  England  is 
good  enough — there  is  none  better.  But  humbled  national 
pride  is  not  soon  silent  under  its  mortification  ;  and  half  a 
century  after  this  period  we  find  it  expressing  itself  through 
the  tongues  and  pens  of  hirelings  and  vagabonds,  in  unmeaning 
sneers  at  institutions  not  understood,  and  manners  and  customs 
misrepresented. 

Did  Jones  long  for  peace  or  war  ?  Did  his  inclination  point 
to  that  fair  France,  where  the  plaudits  of  a  brilliant  court,  the 
notice  of  royalty,  the  friendship  of  nobles,  and  the  presentation 
of  the  sword  and  star,  had  made  him  so  happy  ?  Or  to  the  land 
for  which  he  had  fought,  and  which  was  too  poor  to  give  him 
the  command  of  a  ship  of  the  line  ?  He  did  not  know  himself. 
On  the  16th  of  March,  he  thus  wrote  to  John  Ross,  Esq.  in  the 
United  States.  "  I  had,  my  dear  friend,  the  honour  to  write  to 


PAUL   JONES.  349 

you  from  on  board  this  ship,  while  sailing  out  of  the  harbour  of 
Boston,  the  24th  December.  I  mentioned  to  you  in  that  letter 
my  wish  respecting  the  purchase  of  a  confiscated  estate,  situ- 
ated between  two  navigable  rivers,  a  little  above  Newark,  within 
eight  or  ten  miles  of  New  York,  and  formerly  owned  by  one 
Edwards,*  who  has  been  killed.  I  was  told  it  contains  a  large 
tract  of  excellent  land,  which  was  valued  before  the  revolution, 
at  £8,000,  but  would  be  sold  for  a  fourth  part  of  that  sum.  As 
New  York  will  probably  be  one  of  our  fiist  naval  ports,  the  prox- 
imity of  that  estate  made  me  the  more  desirous  to  own  it.  If, 
therefore,  you  should  find  on  inquiry  that  I  have  been  rightly 
informed,  and  if  you  can  turn  the  merchandise  in  your  hand  into 
money,  to  answer  for  the  purchase,  I  pray  you  to  act  for  me  as 
you  would  for  yourself  on  the  occasion.  We  have  as  yet  no 
certain  news  from  Europe,  &c.  If  the  peace  should,  as  I  wish 
it  may,  be  concluded,  I  wish  to  establish  myself  on  a  place  I  can 
call  my  own,  and  to  offer  my  hand  to  some  fair  daughter  of 
liberty.  If,  on  the  contrary,  Count  D'Estaing  should  come  out 
with  fifty  sail  of  the  line,  copper  sheathed,  and  18,000  troops,  I 
shall  have  instructions  at  the  greatest  military  school  in  the 
world,  and  I  can  have  no  doubt  of  finding  opportunity  of  effect- 
ing the  business  we  talked  over  at  parting.  Mr.  Morris,  I  am 
assured,  will  not  in  that  case  let  slip  the  occasion;  and  I  am 
well  persuaded,  you  will  also  take  the  necessary  steps."  We 
will  take  the  chevalier's  word,  that  he  had  no  existing  attachment 
or  liaison  in  France,  which  prevented  his  offering  himself  to 
"  some  fair  daughter  of  liberty." 

The  news  of  peace  arrived,  as  has  been  mentioned,  and  the 
squadron  sailed  from  Porto  Cabello  on  the  8th  of  April,  the  day 
after  the  cessation  of  hostilities.  After  a  passage  of  eight  days, 
it  arrived  at  Cape  Frangois,  where  the  Spanish  fleet  had  arrived 
a  few  days  before.  Jones  received  "  particular  marks  of  atten- 
tion from  the  governor,  M.  de  Bellecombe,  as  well  as  from  Don 


"  A  mistake." — Note  in  the  margin,  in  his  own  handwriting 


360  PAUL   JONES. 

Galvez  and  the  Spanish  admiral.  He  embraced  the  nrst  oppor- 
tunity of  a  vessel  bound  for  America,  and  arrived  at  Philadel- 
phia on  the  18th  of  May.  The  letters  of  which  he  was  the 
bearer  to  the  different  functionaries  at  home,  were  such  as  must 
have  been  most  gratifying  to  him.  The  Marquis  de  Vaudreuil 
in  writing  to  the  Chevalier  de  Luzerne,  thus  expressed  himself: 
"  M.  Paul  Jones,  who  embarked  with  me,  returns  to  his  beloved 
country.  I  was  very  glad  to  have  him.  His  well  deserved 
reputation  caused  me  to  accept  his  company  with  much  plea- 
sure; and  I  had  no  doubt  that  we  should  meet  with  some  occa- 
sions in  which  his  talents  might  be  displayed.  But  peace,  for 
which  I  cannot  but  rejoice,  interposes  an  obstacle  which  renders 
our  separation  necessary.  Permit  me,  sir,  to  pray  you  to  recom- 
mend him  to  his  chiefs.  The  particular  acquaintance  I  have 
formed  with  him,  since  he  has  been  on  board  of  the  Triomphante 
makes  me  take  a  lively  interest  in  his  fortunes ;  and  I  shall  feel 
much  obliged,  if  you  can  find  means  of  doing  him  services." 
The  Baron  de  Viomenil,  commander  of  the  land  army  on  board 
of  the  squadron,  wrote  as  follows  to  the  ambassador. 

"  M.  Paul  Jones,  who  will  have  the  honour  of  delivering  to 
you,  sir,  this  letter,  has  for  five  months  deported  himself  among 
us  with  such  wisdom  and  modesty  as  add  infinitely  to  the  repu- 
tation gained  by  his  courage  and  exploits.  I  have  reason  to 
believe  that  he  has  preserved  as  much  the  feeling  of  gratitude 
and  attachment  towards  France,  as  of  patriotism  and  devotion 
to  the  cause  of  America.  Such  being  his  titles  to  attention,  1 
take  the  liberty  of  recommending  to  you  his  interests,  near  the 
president  and  Congress."  The  admiral  wrote  directly  to  Mr. 
Morris,  to  the  same  effect,  expressing  his  desire  for  the  pros- 
perity of  "  ce  brave  et  honnete  homme" 

The  ill  health  which  Jones  speaks  of,  continued  when  he 
arrived  at  Philadelphia.  •  He  suffered  from  a  violent  intermit- 
ting fever,  and  spent  the  summer  at  Bethlehem,  where  he  had 
the  benefit  of  the  cold  bath.  The  idea  of  living  on  a  fine  farm 
in  New  Jersey,  near  a  city  whose  future  growth  and  commer- 
cial prosperity  he  shrewdly  foresaw,  with  some  fair  "  daughter 


PAUL   JONES.  351 

of  liberty"  as  the  matron  head  of  the  establishment,  "  in  calm 
contemplation  and  poetic  ease,"  must,  no  doubt,  have  been  a 
vision  which  floated  gratefully  before  his  mind  during  moments 
of  languor  and  uncertainty  at  Porto  Cabello.  It  faded  into  thin 
air.  He  could  not  realize  the  amounts  due  to  him  from  various 
quarters.  Mr.  Barclay,  the  consul  general  of  France,  had  ob- 
tained no  settlement  of  the  prize  money  remaining  due  to  the 
officers  and  crews  of  the  squadron  he  last  commanded,  in  which 
he  was  so  considerably  interested.  On  his  application,  Con- 
gress passed  an  Act  on  the  1st  November,  appointing  him  agent 
for  all  prizes,  taken  in  Europe  under  his  own  command.  *  *  *  * 
He  lodged  bonds  with  the  minister  of  finance,  to  the  amount  of 
$200,000,  to  transmit  to  the  continental  treasury  all  the  money 
he  should  recover,  belonging  to  the  citizens  of  America,  who 
had  served  under  his  command  in  Europe ;  to  be  from  thence 
paid  to  them  individually  by  the  minister.  He  chose  to  put  the 
business  on  that  footing,  to  prevent  the  possibility  of  any  re- 
proach.* He  sailed  the  10th  of  November  from  Philadelphia, 
in  the  Washington  packet,  for  France  ;  and  after  a  passage  of 
twenty  days,  landed  at  Plymouth  in  England  ;  the  packet  having 
put  in  there,  as  the  wind  was  unfavourable  for  Havre  de  Grace, 
the  port  of  her  destination.  Having  the  public  despatches  in 
his  charge,  he  set  out  immediately  in  a  post  chaise ;  and  fina 
ing  Mr.  Adams,  minister  plenipotentiary  for  Holland,  at  London, 
who  was  persuaded  that  fhe  packets  for  Dr.  Franklin  contained 
a  commission  to  conclude  a  treaty  of  commerce  with  England, 
he  proceeded  with  such  haste,  that  he  was  only  five  days  on  the 
road  from  Plymouth  to  Paris.  He  travelled  at  his  own  expense. 
The  Marechal  de  Castries  and  the  Count  de  Vergennes 
received  him  cordially.  By  the  former  he  was  introduced  to 


*  He  means,  that  he  preferred  that  the  money  should  pass  to  individuals  through 
the  minister's  hands.  The  resolution  of  Congress  required  that  bonds  should  be  given  ; 
and  it  appears,  that  Jones  had  no  difficulty  in  obtaining  sufficient  security  for  so  large 
an  amount. 


352  PAUL   JONES. 

the  king  on  the  20th  December.  The  letters  of  the  Chevalier 
de  Luzerne  to  those  ministers  were  in  the  same  strain  of  com- 
mendation and  personal  expression  of  regard,  (plainly,  not  merely 
diplomatic  language,)  as  those  he  had  borne  from  the  com- 
manders in  the  squadron  at  Porto  Cabello.  "  They  both  as- 
sured him,"  he  says,  "  that  he  had  no  need  of  letters,  to  dispose 
them  to  esteem  his  character  and  do  him  justice.  After  dinner, 
the  Marechal  took  Captain  Jones  aside,  and  told  him,  from  the 
king,  that  it  would  always  give  his  majesty  pleasure  to  be  use- 
ful to  his  future  fortune."  On  the  17th  of  December,  Dr. 
Franklin  formally  recognised  his  authority  as  agent  to  solicit 
for  payment  and  satisfaction  to  the  officers  and  crews,  &c.  in 
whose  hands  soever  the  prize  money  might  be  detained." 

He  set  about  thisnegociation  with  his  whole  soul,  and  succeed- 
ed, after  two  years,  in  obtaining  a  liquidation  and  payment  of 
the  demand.  It  would  be  tedious,  were  it  necessary  and  were 
there  room  for  it,  to  insert  the  correspondence,  which  relates  to 
this  matter,  and  it  is  imperfect.  Jones  claimed  the  proportion  of 
prize  money  due  to  the  Bon  Horn  me  Richard  and  Alliance,  to 
be  divided  afterwards  by  the  superintendent  of  finances  in 
America,  agreeably  to  the  rules  of  her  navy.  That  proportion, 
he  assumed,  was  to  be  ascertained  by  multiplying  the  number 
of  the  crew  by  the  sum  of  the  calibre  of  the  cannon,  mounted 
on  board  of  each  ship.  In  writing  to  the  Marechal  de  Castries, 
M.  de  Sartine's  successor,  he  repeated  minutely  the  story  of 
his  projects  and  his  doings;  and  renewed  all  his  complaints 
against  the  conduct  of  M.  de  Chaumont.  This  was  impolitic, 
and  certainly  did  not  expedite  the  settlement  of  the  affair  he 
had  in  charge.  The  following  was,  however,  his  creed  on  the 
subject,  which  is  inserted  without  other  comment,  than  that 
the  captors  should  have  taken  legal  advice :  "  Whether  M.  le 
Ray  de  Chaumont  is  indebted  to  the  government,  or  the  govern- 
ment is,  as  he  says,  indebted  to  him,  is  a  matter  that  ought  not 
to  regard  the  captors,  but  they  have  a  right  to  claim  the  pro- 
tection of  government  to  force  M.  le  Ray  de  Chaumont  to  ren- 
der the  money  with  interest,  which  he  has  unjustly  detained 


PAUL   JONES.  353 

from  them  for  four  years  and  a  half,  while  many  of  them  'are 
perishing  with  cold  and  hunger." 

An  account  was  made  out,  pursuant  to  the  minister's  direction, 
by  M.  Chandon,  on  the  papers  submitted  by  M.  de  Chaumont. 
The  Concordat  had  settled  that  "the  division  of  prizes  should 
be  made  agreeably  to  the  American  laws  ;  but  that  the  propor- 
tion of  the  whole,  coming  to  each  vessel  in  the  squadron,  should 
be  regulated  by  the  minister  of  the  marine  department  of  France 
and  the  minister  plenipotentiary  of  the  United  States  of  Ame- 
rica." It  would  seem  that  in  this  account  the  French  laws 
were  referred  to,  in  adjusting  such  proportion.  The  law  of 
Congress  gave  the  captors  the  whole  value  of  all  ships  and  ves- 
sels of  war  belonging  to  the  crown  of  Great  Britain,  and  half 
the  value  of  merchantmen,  &c.  Charges  were  made  in  the 
account,  for  repairs  done  at  the  Texel,  and  the  expenses  of  the 
detention  of  the  prizes  there  ;  and  also  of  four  deniers  on  the 
livre,  on  account  of  the  Hospital  of  Invalids  at  Paris,  from  which 
institution  American  seamen  had  received  no  benefit.  Dr. 
Franklin  had  not  interfered  in  relation  to  the  distribution  of  this 
prize  money.  He  acted  with  his  uniform  wisdom,  as  there  was 
no  obligation  upon  him  to  express  his  opinions.  Jones  who  was 
now,  as  to  this  matter,  minister  plenipotentiary  himself,  warmly 
and  with  no  mean  skill,  as  well  as  fervour,  objected  to  this  man- 
ner of  adjusting  the  account,  and  to  these  deductions.  The 
claim  of  the  four  deniers  was  readily  relinquished  by  the  minis- 
ter. That  for  expenses  in  the  Texel  was  made  the  subject 
of  more  argument,  which  was  managed  by  Jones  with  much 
ingenuity,  and  as  much  passion.  Franklin  wrote  to  him  that 
if  he  had  been  willing  to  act  himself  in  the  matter,  he  "  certainly 
would  not  have  agreed  to  charge  the  American  captors  with 
any  part  of  the  expense  of  maintaining  the  500  prisoners  in 
Holland,  till  they  could  be  exchanged,  when  none  of  them  were 
exchanged  for  the  Americans  in  England,  as  was  Jones'  inten- 
tion, and  as  they  both  had  been  made  to  expect."  Enclosing  a 
copy  of  this  letter  to  the  minister,  Jones  said :  "  I  will  not  now 
complain  that  the  prisoners  which  I  took,  and  carried  to  Hol- 

44 


354  PAUL   JONES. 

land  were  not  exchanged  for  the  Americans  who  had  been  taken 
in  war  upon  the  ocean,  and  were  long  confined  in  English  dun- 
geons by  civil  magistrates,  as  traitors,  pirates,  and  felons ;  I 
will  only  say,  I  had  such  a  promise  from  the  minister  of  marine. 
It  was  all  the  reward  I  asked  for  the  anxious  days  and  sleep- 
less nights  I  passed,  and  the  many  dangers  I  encountered,  in 
glad  hope  of  giving  them  all  their  liberty,  and  if  I  had  not 
been  assured  that  Mr.  Franklin  had  made  an  infallible  ar- 
rangement with  the  courts  of  France  and  England  for  their 
immediate  redemption,  nothing  but  a  superior  force  should  have 
wrested  them  out  of  my  hands,  till  they  had  been  actually  ex- 
changed for  the  unhappy  Americans  in  England." 

On  the  13th  of  May  the  minister  informed  Jones  that  on  the 
statement  he  had  laid  before  his  majesty,  this  item  of  deduction 
was  also  ordered  to  be  relinquished  ;  and  that  the  indisposition  of 
M.  Chandon  alone  had  prevented  the  amount  to  be  allowed  from 
being  stated,  which  he  would  take  the  earliest  measures  for  pay- 
ing.   Here  was  an  immediate  prospect  of  a  summary  attainment 
of  the  object  of  his  mission.  With  characteristic  rapidity,  Jones 
replied  :  "  I  hope  M.  Chandon  will  immediately  finish  that  liqui- 
dation ;  and,  considering  that  nearly  five  years  have  already 
elapsed  since  the  prizes  were  made,  and  that  my  long  delay 
here  is  very  inconvenient  to  my  affairs,  I  flatter  myself  that  you 
will  take  measures  for  the  payment  as  soon  as  possible.     On 
my  arrival  at  Paris,  I  had  the  honour  to  present  a  letter  from 
the  Chevalier  de  la  Luzerne,  mentioning  that  part  of  my  busi- 
ness in  Europe  is  to  collect  materials  for  forming  a  system  for 
the  future  marine  of  America.     You  had,  my  lord,  the  good 
ness  to  promise  me  copies  of  every  thing  respecting  the  govern- 
ment and  manner   of  supplying  the  marine  of  France;  and 
T  should  esteem  it  a  great  favour,  if  you  would  now  give  your 
orders  in  consequence."* 


*  On  the  20th  of  January  preceding,  Colonel  Wadsworth  had  addressed  Jones 
under  a  copy  of  the  following  memorandum.     "  Colonel  Hamilton  requests  Colonel 


PAUL   JONES.  355 

It  was  in  September  of  the  year  1784,  that  the  plate  taken 
from  Lord  Selkirk's  house  on  St.  Mary's  Island  was  sent  home. 
The  letter  of  M.  de  Calonne,  granting  permission  for  its  trans- 
portation from  L'Orient  to  Calais  free  from  all  duties,  &c.  was 
highly  complimentary.  "  This  action,  sir,"  said  the  minister, 
"  is  well  worthy  of  the  reputation  your  conduct  has  acquired  for 
you  ;  and  proves  that  true  valour  is  always  in  close  union  with 
humanity  and  generosity."  The  bill  rendered  to  Jones  for 
transporting  this  plate,  by  the  "  director  of  the  diligences  of 
Flanders,  Picardy,  and  England,"  is  among  the  papers  before 
me.  The  amount  was  127  livres,  17  sols. 

On  the  23d  of  October,  it  appears  that  a  "  statement  of  the 
liquidation  and  repartition  of  the  prizes,"  was  signed  by  the 
Marechal  de  Castries,  in  which  Jones  urged  that  there  was  an 
error  in  the  proportion  assigned  to  the  Vengeance.  This  was 
probably  not  rectified.  And  the  money  was  not  forthcoming 
immediately.  In  June,  in  the  following  year,  we  find  Jones 
jogging  the  memory  of  the  minister,  as  to  his  promise  of  taking 
prompt  measures  for  payment.  -  It  was  then  intimated  that 
security  should  be  given  for  the  due  application  of  the  fund. 
Jones  referred  to  his  credentials,  and  to  the  documents  which 
showed  that  he  had  given  ample  security  to  the  government  of 


Wadaworth  as  often  as  convenient  to  make  inquiries,  and  take  minutes  of  the  circum- 
stances relating  to  the  r.  negation  of  different  nations;  the  construction  and  quality  of 
their  ships,  with  respect  to  bulk,  duration,  and  expedition ;  the  expense  of  construe 
tion,  materials,  and  equipment;  the  number  of  men  with  which  they  are  navigated; 
the  wages  to  the  seamen,  subsistence,  &c.  so  as  to  form  a  general  idea  of  the  com 
parative  advantages  for  navigation  between  this  and  other  countries."  Colonel  Wads 
worth  said  in  his  letter:  "  I  have  sent  this  to  you,  as  the  best  able  to  make  inquiries, 
and  pray  you  to  write  him  on  the  several  articles  of  this  request,  as  I  know  nobody  in 
America  so  likely  to  make  a  good  use  of  them.  I  do  not  despair  of  seeing  an  American 
navy ;  and  my  hopes  will  increase,  when  I  see  such  men  as  Hamilton  at  the  head  of 
our  naval  affairs  in  America ;  which  may  possibly  not  be  far  distant.     I  will  not 
apologize  for  giving  you  this  trouble.     You  have  so  eminently  distinguished  yourself 
us  a  naval  officer,  andso  warmly  and  unremittingly  pursued  the  true  interestof  America, 
that  I  am  certain  I  can  commit  these  inquiries  to  no  one,  so  able  and  so  willing  to 
make  then 


356  PAUL   JONES. 

the  United  States,  and  thus  concluded  his  letter  :  "  Asparticu 
lar  reasons  render  it  extremely  inconvenient,  if  not  impossible, 
for  me  to  attend  this  business  any  longer,  I  shall  take  the  liberty 
to  wait  on  your  excellency  to-morrow,  to  be  favoured  with  your 
final  determination." 

It  is  to  be  presumed  that  this  difficulty  was  removed  at 
once :  but  now  another  arose.  Jones  was  desired  by  the 
minister  to  address  himself  to  the  ordinateur  at  L'Orient  for 
payment  of  the  money.  He  did  not  like  this  reference  and  an- 
ticipated difficulties  in  his  settlement  with  this  functionary.  He 
asked  for  orders,  that  the  money  due  the  two  ships,  the  Bon 
Homme  and  the  Alliance,  might  be  paid  immediately  into  his 
hands  en  masse. 

The  expected  difficulties  with  the  ordinateur  occured.  Mr. 
Jefferson  had  now  succeeded  the  venerable  Franklin  as  minister 
plenipotentiary  at  Versailles.  On  the  29th  of  July,  in  this  year, 
(1785,)  Jones  says,  in  addressing  him  :  "  I  find  that  a  French 
merchant,  M.  Puchilberg,  of  this  place,  who  opposed  Dr.  Frank- 
lin, and  did  all  in  his  power  to  promote  the  revolt  that  took 
place  in  the  Alliance,  has  produced  a  letter  of  attorney  which 
he  obtained  from  the  officers  and  men  of  that  frigate  when 
their  minds  were  unsettled,  authorizing  him  to  receive  their 
share  in  the  prizes.  And  notwithstanding  the  orders  of  the 
Marechal  of  the  15th,  I  find  there  is  a  disposition  here  to  pay 
the  money  to  M.  Puchilberg,  in  preference  to  me." 

Theinteference  of  M.  Puchilberg  was  as  peculiarly  offensive  to 
Jones,  as  it  was  in  his  opinion  unsafe,  because  he  had  given  no 
security  to  the  American  government  for  the  due  disbursement 
of  the  money  ;  had  not  any  "  authentic  roll  of  the  crew  of  the 
Alliance  ;  and  could  not  do  justice  to  the  subjects  of  America. 
Jones  was  willing  that  the  proportion  due  the  French  marines, 
who  embarked  as  volunteers,  should  be  deducted  from  the 
amount  to  be  paid  to  him.  In  another  passage  of  his  letter  he 
says,  that  one  of  the  objections  made  at  L'Orient,  to  the  pay- 
ment to  him  of  the  whole  amount  was,  that  Landais  was  born 
in  Fran^.  "  But  he  had  abjured  the  Church  of  Rome,  and  been 


PAUL   JONES.  357 

naturalized  in  America  (as  his  officers  reported  to  me)  before 
he  took  command  of  the  Alliance  ;  and  his  crew  were  all  the 
subjects  of  the  United  States."  The  naturalization  was  implied 
in  his  bearing  his  commission.  His  abjuration  is  doubtful ;  as 
he  sleeps  in  ground  consecrated  according  to  the  ritual  of  the 
Church  of  Rome.  This  by  the  way.  Vexed  and  restless  at  this 
new  obstacle,  we  find  Jones  two  days  afterwards  repeating  to 
Mr.  Jefferson,  the  same  argument  against  the  propriety  of  M. 
Puchilberg's  intervention.  But  he  had  other  matters  to  speak 
of ;  and  this  part  of  his  letter  must  be  introduced. 

"  The  enclosed  copy  of  a  letter,  which  has  just  now  been 
communicated  to  me,  from  Monsieur  de  Soulanges,  a  M.  M.  les 
Juges  Consals,  dated  at  Toulon,  the  14th  day  of  this  month, 
announcing  that  the  Algerines  have  declared  war  against  the 
United  States,  is  of  too  serious  a  nature  not  to  be  sent  imme- 
diately to  you. 

"  This  event  may,  I  believe,  surprise  some  of  our  fellow-citi- 
zens ;  but,  for  my  part,  I  am  rather  surprised  that  it  did  not 
take  place  sooner.  It  will  produce  a  good  effect,  if  it  unites  the 
people  of  America  in  measures  consistent  with  their  national 
honour  and  interest,  and  rouses  them  from  that  ill-judged 
security  which  the  intoxication  of  success  has  produced  since 
the  revolution. 

"  My  best  wishes  will  always  attend  that  land  of  freedom, 
and  my  pride  will  be  always  gratified  when  such  measures  are 
adopted  as  will  make  us  respected  as  a  great  people  who  deserve 
to  be  free." 

The  prudent  advice  of  Mr.  Jefferson  was  in  the  same  spirit 
with  that  which  Franklin  would  have  given.  M.  Puchilberg,  (it 
is  believed  that  he  had  no  de  to  his  name,  though  he  may  have 
been  entitled  to  it,)  was  got  rid  of.  Jones  considered  himself 
as  a  quasi  ambassador  in  this  matter.  He  certainly  did  not 
address  the  minister  in  the  regulated  phraseology  of  diplomacy  ; 
and  sometimes  took  the  liberty  of  throwing  his  own  words  back 
into  his  teeth,  which  was  not  genteel.  But,  like  the  woman  in 
the  parable,  he  gained  his  point  by  importunity.  It  would  re- 


358  PAUL   JONES. 

joice  the  souls  of  many  claimants  at  the  present  day,  of  an 
infinitely  greater  amount  from  the  same  court,  if  the  same  re- 
sult could  be  effected  ;  and  they  would  not  feel  their  satisfaction 
diminished  to  a  vast  extent,  if  it  were  even  obtained  by  a  like 
departure  from  conventional  language.  Something  more 
than  181,000  livres  was  paid  to  Jones  eventually.*  He 
charged  no  commission  on  the  amount  he  received.  He 
charged,  however,  48,000  livres  for  his  expenses.  He  was  au- 
thorized by  Congress  to  act  as  agent  in  the  business,  on  the  1st 
November,  1783  ;  he  charges  only  from  the  time  of  his  arrival 
in  Europe,  which  was  the  5th  December,  1783,  up  to  the  7th 
July,  1786. 

The  king  remitted  the  proportion  (one  half)  of  the  sale  of 
the  merchant  prizes,  to  which,  by  the  American  laws,  the  govern- 
ment was  entitled,  in  favour  of  the  captors.  The  balance  of 
112,000  livres  was  paid  over  by  Jones  to  Mr.  Jefferson. 

The  statement  of  his  expenses  for  these  two  years  shows, 
that  he  must  have  lived  handsomely.  He  renewed  his  former 


*  1  find  among  the  papers  before  me  a  draft  from  the  board  of  treasury,  dated  May 
9th,  1786,  for  181,039  livres  1  sol  and  10  deniers,  in  favour  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  expressed  to 
be  for  "  moneys  received  by  you  from  the  treasury  of  the  marine  of  the  port  of  L'Orient, 
on  account  of  prize  money  due  to  the  frigate  Alliance,  and  the  American  officers  and 
Bailors  employed  under  your  command,  conformably  to  your  two  receipts  of  the  18th 
August,  and  5th  September,  1785,  transmitted  to  the  department  of  foreign  affairs,  for 
which  payment  this  shall  be  your  sufficient  voucher."  On  the  back,  is  Mr.  Jefferson's 
receipt,  as  follows :  "  Received  from  Commodore  Paul  Jones,  one  hundred  and 
twe'ive  thousand  one  hundred  and  seventy  two  livres,  two  sols,  and  four  deniers,  paid 
fay  him  to  Mr.  Grand,  as  the  balance  of  the  sum  mentioned  in  the  annexed  bill  of  the 
treasury,  according  to  Commodore  Jones'  account,  to  be  submitted  to  Congress.  Paris, 
12th  July,  1786.  Th.  Jefferson."  Jones'  account  was  as  follows :  endorsed  thus  in 
Mr.  Jefferson's  handwriting  :  "  Paris,  in  the  kingdom  of  France,  to  wit :  The  within 
named  John  Paul  Jones  made  oath  before  me  on  the  holy  evangelists,  that  his  ordinary 
expenses,  since  his  arrival  in  Europe,  for  the  purpose  of  recovering  the  prize  money, 
as  within  stated,  have  amounted  to  forty  seven  thousand  nine  hundred  and  seventy- 
two  livres,  eleven  sous  tournois.  Given  under  my  hand  the  fifth  day  of  August,  1786. 
Th.  Jefferson." 

"  Amount  of  prize  money  belonging  to  the  American  part  of  the  crew  of  the  Bon 
Homme  Richarl,  (and  to  some  few  foreigners,  whose  names  and  qualities,  &c.  are 


PAUL   JONES. 


359 


connexions  and  acquaintances,  and  kept  himself  in  the  public 
eye.  He  prepared  a  journal  of  his  past  services  in  the  cause  of 
America  and  her  ally,  which  was  read  by  several  persons  of  dis- 
tinction ;  and  of  which  there  appears  to  have  been  more  than 
one  copy  circulated.  Fragments  of  one  version  are  found  writ- 
ten in  the  first  person.  The  entire  narrative,  up  to  the  period 
of  his  visiting  France  on  this  occasion,  which  has  been  so  fre- 
quently quoted  from,  is  more  classically  drawn  up  in  the  third. 
Of  that  intended  for  his  majesty,  Malesherbs  thus  wrote  to  him. 


inserted  in  the  roll,)  with  the  amount,  also,  of  the  prize  money  belonging  to  the  crew 
of  the  Alliance  ;  received  at  L'Orient,  by  order  of  the  Marechal  de  Castries,  in  bills 
on  Paris. 

Litres.    S.  D. 

181,039  01  10 
From  which  deduct,  viz. 

Nett  amount  of  my  ordinary  expenses  since  I  arrived 
in  Europe  to  settle  the  prize  money  belonging  to  the 
citizens  and  subjects  of  America,  who  served  on  board 
the  squadron  I  commanded,  under  the  flag  of  the  Uni- 
ted States,  at  the  expense  of  his  most  Christian  ma- 
jesty, stated  to  his  excellency  Thomas  Jefferson,  Esq. 
the  4th  of  this  month,  47,97211  0 

Paid  the  draft  of  M.  le  Jeune,  for  the  amount  of 
prize  money  due  to  Jacque  Tual,  pilot  of  the  Alliance,  67013  6 

Amount  of  prize  money  paid  M.  de  Blondel,  lieu- 
tenant of  marines  of  the  Pallas,  as  stated  on  the  roll  of 
the  Bon  Homme  Richard.  283  00  0 

Advances  made  to  sundry  persons,  which  stand  at 
my  credit  on  the  roll  of  the  Bon  Homme  Richard,  264  09  6 

Advances  made  by  me  to  sundry  persons  belonging 
to  the  Bon  Homme  Richard :  these  advances  do  not 
stand  at  my  credit  on  the  roll  settled  at  L'Orient,  by 
M.  le  Jeune,  because  the  commissary  had  neglected 
to  send  him  the  original  roll  from  the  bureau  at  Ver- 
sailles, but  the  commissary  has  rectified  that  omission, 
by  his  certificates,  dated  September  5th,  1785,  and 
February  22d,  1786.  6,385  00  0 

My  share,  by  the  roll,  as  captain  of  the  Bon  Homme 
Richard, 


Paris,  July  7, 1786. 


13,291    5    6 


PAUI,  JONKS.' 


68,866  19    6 
112,172    2    4 


360  PAUL   JONES. 

"  I  have  received  with  much  gratitude  the  mark  of  confidence 
which  you  have  given  me,  and  I  have  read  with  great  eagerness 
and  pleasure  that  interesting  relation. 

"  My  first  impression  was  to  desire  you  to  have  it  published, 
but  after  having  read  it,  I  perceive  that  you  had  not  written  it 
with  a  view  to  publication,  because  there  are  things  in  it  which 
are  written  to  the  king,  for  whom  alone  that  work  was  intended. 
However,  actions  memorable  as  yours  are,  ought  to  be  made 
known  to  the  world  by  an  authentic  journal  published  in  your 
own  name. 

"  I  earnestly  entreat  you  to  work  at  it  as  soon  as  your  affairs 
will  allow  you  ;  and  in  the  mean  time,  I  hope  that  the  king  will 
read  this  work  with  that  attention  which  he  owes  to  the  relation 
of  the  services,  which  have  been  rendered  to  him  by  a  person 
so  celebrated." 

At  this  time  he  also  rendered  a  material  service  to  the  myste- 


On  transmitting  his  statement  of  the  account  to  Mr.  Jefferson,  Jones  wrote  as 
follows : 

"  I  have  the  honour  to  enclose  and  submit  to  your  consideration,  the  account  I  have 
stated  of  the  prize  money  in  my  hands,  with  sundry  papers  that  regard  the  charges.  I 
cannot  bring  myself  to  lessen  the  dividend  of  the  American  captors  by  making  any 
charge  either  for  my  time  or  trouble.  I  lament  that  it  has  not  yet  been  in  my  power 
to  procure  for  them  advantages  as  solid  and  as  extensive  as  the  merit  of  their  services. 
I  would  not  have  undertaken  this  business  from  any  views  of  private  emolument  that 
could  have  possibly  resulted  from  it  to  myself,  even  supposing  I  had  recovered  or 
should  recover  a  sum  more  considerable  than  the  penalty  of  my  bond.  But  I  was 
anxious  to  force  some  ill  natured  persons  to  acknowledge  that,  if  they  did  not  tell  a 
wilful  falsehood,  they  were  mistaken  when  they  asserted  that  I  had  commanded  a 
squadron  of  privateers.  And,  the  war  being  over,  I  made  it  my  first  care  to  show  the 
brave  instruments  of  my  success  that  their  rights  are  as  dear  to  me  as  my  own.  It 
will,  I  believe,  be  proper  for  me  to  make  oath  before  you  to  the  amount  charged  for 
my  ordinary  expenses.  I  flatter  myself  that  you  will  find  no  objection  to  the  account 
as  I  have  stated  it,  and  that  you  are  of  opinion  that,  after  this  settlement  has  been  made 
between  us,  my  bond  ought  to  stand  cancelled  as  far  as  regards  my  transactions  with 
the  court  of  France.  Should  any  part  of  the  prize  money  remain  in  the  treasury, 
without  being  claimed,  after  sufficient  time  shall  be  elapsed,  I  beg  leave  to  submit  to 
you,  to  the  treasury,  and  to  Congress,  whether  I  have  not  merited  by  my  conduct  since 
I  returned  to  Europe  that  such  remainder  should  be  disposed  of  in  my  favour  ?" 


PAUL  JONES.  361 

rious  Madame  T  ,  by  obtaining  for  her,  through  a  lady  of 

rank,  an  introduction  to  the  king,  who  received  her  with  great 
kindness  and  said  he  charged  himself  with  her  fortune.  He  had 
his  bust  taken  by  Houdon,  "to  whose  talents  it  was  remarked  by 
professed  judges  it  did  no  discredit."  One  of  these  he  sent  to 
Mr.  Jefferson,  and  two  to  Philadelphia,  which  he  intended  to 
present  in  person  on  his  return.  Writing  to  Mr.  Morris  in  1787, 
he  says :  "  as  the  moment  of  my  return  to  America  continues 
uncertain,  I  beg  you  will  now  accept  the  bust  as  a  mark  of  my 
affection.  Mr.  Nesbitt  writes  me  that  a  duty  was  demanded  on 
my  busts.  This,  I  own,  surprises  me.  They  are  not  merchan- 
dise ;  and  I  flatter  myself  that  my  zeal  and  exertions  for  the 
cause  of  America  will  not  be  requited  with  such  a  mark  of  dis- 
honour. I  would  rather  hear  that  the  busts  were  broke  to 
pieces,  than  consent  that  they  should  be  subject  to  a  duty."  At 
this  time  he  also  projected  a  commercial  speculation  in  connec- 
tion with  the  celebrated  John  Ledyard.  The  acquaintance  be- 
tween Jones  and  Ledyard  commenced  in  1785,  as  must  be 
inferred  from  the  letters  of  Jones.  The  project  was  spoken  of 
in  the  London  papers  in  that  year.  The  following  is  an  extract 
from  the  London  Chronicle  of  August  20th,  1785:  "  A  letter 
from  L'Orient  says  :  Paul  Jones  has  arrived  here  from  Paris 
to  fit  out  three  ships  on  his  own  account,  of  which  it  is  said  he 
will  take  the  command  on  an  expedition  to  Kamschatka,  to 
purchase  furs  and  establish  a  factory.  This  he  is  enabled  to  do 
by  having  lately  received  400,000  livres  for  the  prizes  he  took  in 
the  war."  Such  is  newspaper  exaggeration.  The  "  propositions 
for  a  commercial  enterprise"  are  before  me  in  French.  The 
year  in  which  they  were  drawn  up  does  not  appear  in  the  instru- 
ment. "A  vessel  of  250  tons  was  to  be  armed  and  equipped, 
with  forty-five  officers  and  men,  who  were  to  be  French.  She 
was  to  sail  on  the  1st  October,  for  Cape  Horn,  thence  to  the 
Sandwich  Islands  to  take  in  provisions,  and  thence  continue  her 
route  towards  the  north-west  coast,  where  she  would  arrive  in 
April.  She  was  to  remain  there,  if  business  required  it,  until 
September  or  October,  and  then  make  sail  for  Japan,  where 

45 


PAUL  JONES. 

the  peltry  was  to  be  exchanged  fo»  gold  or  other  commodities 
if  the  market  proved  better  than  that  of  China,  which  was  thought 
probable.  If  not,  she  was  to  proceed  to  Macao ;  where  ex- 
perience had  proved  that,  at  the  most  moderate  calculation,  the 
furs  would  bring  ten  livres  a-piece,  the  amount  of  which  was  to 
be  taken  in  gold  or  the  merchandise  of  China ;  after  which  she 
was  to  return  to  France,  by  the  ordinary  route  round  the  Cape 
of  Good  Hope,  and  would  arrive  after  a  voyage  of  about 
eighteen  months.  As  supercargo,  a  citizen  of  the  U.  States 
(Ledyard)  was  proposed,  who  had  been  an  officer  of  Captain 
Cook  hi  his  last  voyage  round  the  world,  and  had  come  to 
France  expressly  to  propose  this  enterprise,  and  demanded  no 
appointments  or  other  compensation  than  a  reasonable  commis- 
sion on  the  profits  of  the  voyage."  The  propositions  proceed 
to  set  forth,  that  the  novelty  of  the  projected  voyage  was  the 
only  disadvantageous  circumstance  anticipated  in  relation  to  it, 
while  its  advantages  were  easily  foreseen  ;  that  the  risks,  com- 
pared to  the  profits,  were,  at  the  most  moderate  estimate,  but  as 
one  to  ten,  which  was  far  less  than  attended  all  voyages  either 
to  the  East  or  West  Indies ;  that  the  expenses  of  the  arma- 
ment and  cargo  were  very  inconsiderable  ;  that  the  quality, 
variety,  and  quantity  of  the  skins  on  the  north-west  coast  ex- 
ceeded all  known  of  the  kind  in  any  other  part  of  the  world ; 
that  such  precious  furs  might  be  bought  for  a  bagatelle,  and 
sold  at  a  market  where  the  venders  might  fix  their  own  price ; 
that  the  distance  between  the  places  of  purchase  and  sale  was 
so  inconsequential,  that  the  peltry  could  not  be  injured  by  the 
transportation  ;  that  there  was  no  necessity  of  delaying  in  any 
port  before  arriving  in  China,  which  would  save  great  expenses 
and  other  inconveniences ;  that  they  would  touch  at  a  port 
where  the  supercargo  could  procure  provisions  at  the  lowest 
price,  viz.  pork,  salt,  fish,  poultry,  vegetables,  &c.  for  twelve 
months  or  more.  Of  the  commercial  knowledge  which  would 
be  acquired  by  those  who  should  undertake  the  expedition,  of 
the  opportunity  it  would  afford  to  make  a  most  precious  collec- 
tion of  natural  and  artificial  curiosities,  of  the  honour  and  plea- 


PAUL   JONES.  363 

sure  which  would  result  from  it,  the  projector  spoke  only  as  ac- 
cidental circumstances.  He  added  that  it  would  be  better  if  the 
enterprise  were  undertaken  by  a  single  house,  or  two  at  most, 
the  expense  attending  the  equipment  being  so  unimportant ; 
and  that  those  who  should  advance  the  funds  need  not  be  inter- 
rupted in  their  business,  as  the  supercargo  would  take  upon  him- 
self the  charge  of  making  all  the  necessary  arrangements,  with 
the  greatest  despatch.  He  observed,  that  there  was  scarce  any 
branch  of  commerce  as  important  for  France  as  that  in  furs, 
especially  by  a  channel  which  might  be  so  considerably  aug- 
mented, possessing  the  great  advantage  of  a  certain  market  in 
China  and  always  obtaining  advantageous  returns  from  thence. 
The  speculators  might  also  at  all  hazard  give  a  credit  by  bills 
of  exchange  or  otherwise,  to  be  used  in  China  if  necessary, 
which  would  give  the  same  advantages  to  the  expedition  as  an 
ordinary  voyage  to  the  East  Indies,  which  any  ship  under  the 
American  flag  might  undertake.  The  supercargo  could  pro- 
vide all  the  charts  necessary  for  the  voyage,  except  those  from 
the  Straits  of  Magellan  to  the  south  by  Cape  Horn ;  but  they 
could  easily  be  procured.  The  following  estimate  was  added 
of  the  expenses  and  profits  of  the  expedition. 

EXPENSES.  RETURNS. 


Cost  of  a  vessel  of  250  tons,  -  -  £1,250 
Complete  equipment,  -  -  -  -  1,250 
Provisions  for  a  year,  -  ...  500 
Cargo, 500 

Wages  advanced  to  the  crew,    -         250 


3,750 
Profit  of  the  voyage,  36,250 


Sterling  £40,000 


A  cargo  of  3,000  skins  bought 

on  the  N.  W.  Coast,  worth 

10  Louis  a-piece  in  China,        £30,000 
As  a  moderate  profit  on  the 

merchandise  bought  in 

China,  10,000 

Sterling  £40,000 


A  most  interesting  account  is  given  in  the  Life  of  Ledyard,  of 
his  efforts  both  in  America  and  France,  to  obtain  a  ship  for  car- 
rying this  project  into  execution.*  Ledyard  says,  that  Mr. 

Sparks'  Life  of  Ledyard.    pp.  130—156. 


364  PAUL  JONES. 

Morris  "  took  a  noble  hold,  instantly,  of  the  enterprise."  It  fell 
through,  however,  in  America  as  it  did  in  France,  where  Mr. 
Jefferson's  sagacious  mind  readily  comprehended  the  impor- 
tance of  discovery  and  settlement  in  regions  which  might  event- 
ually fall  within  the  boundaries  of  the  Union.  It  appears  from 
Ledyard's  papers,  that  the  plan  arranged  between  Jones  and 
himself  was,  to  fit  out  two  ships  and  obtain,  if  possible,  commis- 
sions for  them  from  the  king.  Jones  was  to  usO  his  court  influ- 
ence to  persuade  the  government  to  assist,  and  furnish  vessels 
and  armament.  If  this  should  fail,  he  was  to  furnish  funds  him- 
self, according  to  his  means ;  and  they  were  to  act  on  their  own 
responsibility.  They  meant  to  commence  a  factory  on  the 
north-west  coast,  and  build  a  stoccade,  in  which  Ledyard  was 
to  remain  with  a  small  force.  Jones  was  to  proceed  to  China 
with  one  of  the  vessels,  the  other  was  to  be  left  to  collect  a 
second  cargo.  He  was  afterwards  to  go  with  both  to  China, 
exchange  the  furs  for  silks  and  teas ;  and,  having  disposed  of  his 
cargoes,  return  round  Cape  Horn  again  with  articles  suitable 
for  traffic  with  the  Indians,  whose  good  acquaintance  Ledyard 
was  to  be  left  to  cultivate.  The  latter  expected  to  be  absent 
for  perhaps  six  or  seven  years.  The  delay  Jones  experienced 
in  obtaining  the  prize  money,  no  doubt  contributed  to  the  falling 
through  of  the  scheme ;  about  which  the  latter  in  his  general 
correspondence  writes  with  his  usual  mystery. 

Those  who  have  realized  princely  fortunes  by  this  commerce 
will  be  able  to  criticise  the  merits  of  Ledyard's  plan,  and  the 
accuracy  of  his  estimates.  The  "  disadvantage  of  novelty,"  or 
want  of  the  enlightened  spirit  of  enterprise,  caused  the  merchants 
to  whom  he  suggested  it,  to  let  this  golden  opportunity  escape. 
Jones  had  the  shrewdness  to  perceive  the  tempting  hopes  which 
it  held  forth.  In  several  respects  he  and  Ledyard  were  conge- 
nial spirits.  He  had  written  to  Dr.  Bancroft  on  the  business, 
as  appears  from  a  letter  to  him  from  that  gentleman,  dated 
September  9th,  1785.  The  writer  says  :  "  I  endeavoured  as 
early  as  possible  to  gain  information  respecting  the  object  of 
your  inquiry,  but  it  was  a  difficult  matter,  none  of  my  acquaint- 


PAUL  -  JONES.  ,  365 

ances  knowing  any  thing  more  of  it  than  what  had  appeared  in 
the  public  papers.  Yesterday,  however,  I  was  informed  by  a 
gentleman  who,  I  believe,  has  some  more  knowledge  of  the  fact, 
that  the  two  vessels,  King  George  and  Queen  Charlotte,  have 
actually  sailed  on  the  expedition  which  was  thought  of  by  Mr. 
Ledyard,  for  furs,  which,  I  should  suppose  must  interfere  with 
and  very  much  lessen  the  profits  of  any  similar  undertaking  by 
others.  Mr.  Williams  went  from  hence  to  America  with  Dr. 
Franklin,  before  my  return,  and  I  do  not  know  what  he  did  re- 
specting your  sword,  &c."  At  this  time,  as  appears  by  a  letter 
of  the  same  date  from  the  house  of  S.  &.  I.  S.  Delap,  Jones  was 
in  treaty  for  the  purchase  of  a  vessel  for  this  expedition.  The 
price  of  one  vessel  mentioned  to  Jones  by  them  was  80,000 
livres,  trebling  in  amount  the  calculation  of  Ledyard.  He  had 
also  written  to  America,  asking  this  advice  of  Mr.  Morris  on  the 
subject,  and  postponed  making  a  purchase  until  he  should  receive 
an  answer  from  him,  which  was  not  until  the  first  of  December ; 
"an  unfortunate  circumstance,"  as  he  wrote  to  Mr.  Nesbitt, 
"  for  at  the  same  time  with  the  letter  from  Mr.  Morris,  I  re- 
ceived one  from  Bordeaux,  informing  me  that  the  ship  in  ques- 
tion, (the  finest  that  had  been  seen  in  that  port,)  was  rather 
given  away  than  sold.  I  wrote  to  Madrid,  and  by  the  informa- 
tion I  have  from  thence,  it  appears  that  Spain  is  too  jealous  to 
permit  any  commercial  speculation  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
California.*  I  shall  write  again  to  Bordeaux,  to  inform  myself 
whether  the  ship  in  question  may  not  yet  be  obtained  for  a  rea- 
sonable advance.  If  I  make  that  or  any  other  suitable  pur- 
chase, it  will  be  with  a  view  to  accept  of  the  offer  of  Mr.  Morris, 
and  a  reliance  on  his  kind  disposition  towards  me.  *  *  *  *  I 
should  be  sorry,  very  sorry,  if  my  frankness  to  Mr.  Ross  has  lost 
me  his  friendship  ;  but  the  step  is  taken,  and  I  do  not  feel  that 
it  is  my  place  to  ask  pardon." 


*  On  this  hint,  the  author  of  the  Life  published  in  Edinburgh  ascribes  the  abandon- 
ment of  Ledyard's  projected  scheme,  to  a  dread  of  Spanish  interference. 


366  PAUL   JONES. 

About  this  time  I  find  a  billet  from  Compte  d'Estaing  which 
may  be  thought  curious.  It  is  as  follows  : 

"  Le  Cte  d'Estaing  est  engage  depuis  plusieurs  jours  chez  Mr. 
D'Orey ;  et  il  a  renouvelle  hyer  sa  promesse  de  maniere,  a  ne 
pouvoir  y  manquer.  II  remercie  Monsieur  Paul  Jones,  et  ses 
regrets  augmentent  d'autant  plus,  qu'il  a  un  presentiment  que 
Mr.  de  St.  James,  qu'il  fait  gloire  d'aimer  de  tout  son  cosur  y 
viendra  peut-etre,  en  fort  aimable  compagnie.  Ye  count  is  very 
well  acquainted  with  ye  amiability  and  the  holy  name  of  the 
lady,  but  not  yet  with  his  charming  person ;  and  he  is  very 
curious  of  it. 

"  A  Lundy." 

Jones  was  as  much  mystified  as  we  are  by  the  allusion  made 
in  the  count's  attempted  English.  In  his  reply,  he  says  that 
he  at  first  made  a  wrong  application  of  it ;  but  Mr.  de  St.  James 
undeceived  him,  without,  however,  explaining  its  meaning.  He 
was  full  of  the  same  mercantile  schemes  referred  to,  in  the 
quotation  from  his  letter  to  Mr.  Nesbitt.  To  the  Count  d'Es- 
taing, he  says  :  "  I  did  myself  the  honour  to  call  at  your  hotel 
yesterday,  to  inform  you  that  by  the  inquiry  I  have  made  re- 
specting the  contract  of  Mr.  Morris  for  furnishing  France  with 
60,000  hogsheads  of  tobacco,  I  find  it  is  to  be  delivered  in  France 
at  36  livres  per  hundred  weight ;  and  that  so  great  a  monopoly 
will  enable  him  to  purchase  it  at  the  warehouses  in  Virginia,  at 
the  low  price  of  22  livres  10  sous.  So  that  he  will  have  13 
livres  10  sous  on  every  hundred  weight  for  shipping  charges, 
freight,  and  profit. 

"  I  have  spoken  to  Mr.  Jefferson  respecting  the  obliging  pro- 
positions you  made  on  my  subject  to  the  Marquis  de  la  Fayette. 
I  am  happy  to  find  that  Mr.  Jefferson  thinks  well  of  the  place, 
and  says,  that  if  this  government  will  apply  to  Congress,  there  is 
no  doubt  of  obtaining  their  consent.  By  the  alliance  between 
France  and  America,  it  is  stipulated  that  when  France  shall 
find  herself  engaged  in  a  war  with  Great  Britain,  in  which 


PAUL  JONES.  367 

America  takes  no  active  part,  the  ports  of  the  United  States 
shall  be  open  for  the  ships  of  war  of  France  ;  where  they  may 
refit  and  sell  their  prizes.  But  the  British  are  excluded  from 
those  great  advantages.  The  growing  commerce  of  America 
and  her  extended  fisheries  are  perpetual  and  increasing  nur 
series  for  seamen.  And  avarice  will  always  furnish,  in  the  free 
ports  of  America,  as  many  foreign  seamen  as  may  be  wanted. 
The  great  benefit  that  France  may  derive  from  these  favour- 
able circumstances,  cannot  escape  a  mind  so  extended  and  well 
cultivated  as  yours.  And  you  are  too  good  a  citizen  to  be  in- 
different on  any  point  when  you  can  render  service  to  your 
country,  or  oblige  a  man  who  glories  in  being  honoured  with 
your  attachment.  The  extract  of  my  Journals  will,  I  expect, 
be  presented  on  Monday." 

Mr.  Jefferson  had  written  to  Jones,  while  the  latter  was  at 
L' Orient,  for  information  relative  to  the  voyage  of  discovery 
about  to  be  made  by  La  Perouse.  The  following  was  his  com- 
munication in  reply : 

"  The  following  is  the  best  information  I  am  able  to  give  you, 
in  compliance  with  the  letter,  dated  at  Paris  the  3d  of  August, 
1785,  which  you  did  me  the  honour  to  address  me  at  L'Orient. 

"  The  Boussole  and  the  Astrolabe,  two  gabarts  of  600  tons 
each,  sheathed  with  copper  and  equipped  in  the  best  manner, 
sailed  from  Brest  the  1st  of  August,  1785,  under  the  command 
of  M.  de  la  Perouse  and  the  Viscount  de  Langle,  captains  in  the 
royal  navy.  They  had  on  board  a  great  variety  of  trees,  plants, 
and  seeds,  that  suit  the  climate  of  France  ;  manufactures  in 
linen,  woollen,  and  cotton,  and  in  iron  and  copper,  &c.  &c.  me- 
chanical tools  of  all  sorts  ;  a  great  quantity  of  trinkets  and  toys  ; 
ploughs,  and  all  sorts  of  utensils  and  implements  for  agriculture, 
and  a  quantity  of  unwrought  iron.  Each  ship  had  on  board  a 
large  shallop  in  frames,  and  a  million  of  French  livres  in  the 
coins  of  different  nations.  Each  ship  had  also  on  board  twenty- 
one  soldiers,  draughted  from  the  two  regiments  at  Brest,  all 
of  whom  were  either  mechanics  or  farmers.  They  had  on  board 
no  women  ;  nor  any  animals,  except  such  as  appeared  to  be 


368  PAUL   JONES. 

destined  for  the  refreshment  of  the  crews.  The  crew  of  each 
ship  is  one  hundred  men,  including  officers  and  men  of  genius. 
The  king  himself  planned  the  expedition,  and  made  out  all  the 
details  with  his  own  hand,  before  he  spoke  a  word  of  it  to  any 
person.  His  majesty  defrays  the  expense  of  it  out  of  his  private 
coffer,  and  is  his  own  minister  in  every  thing  that  regards  the 
operation  of  his  plan.  There  is  no  doubt  but  that  the  perfect- 
ing of  the  geography  of  the  southern  hemisphere  is  one  of  his 
majesty's  objects  in  view  ;  and  it  is  not  difficult  to  perceive,  that 
he  has  others  equally  worthy  the  attention  of  a  great  prince  ; 
one  of  which  may  be,  to  extend  the  commerce  of  his  subjects  by 
establishing  factories,  at  a  future  day,  for  the  fur  trade,  on  the 
north-west  coast  of  America  ;  and  another,  to  establish  colonies 
in  New  Holland,  after  having  well  explored  the  coast,  and  made 
experiments  on  the  soil  of  that  vast  island,  which  is  situated  in  so 
happy  a  climate,  and  so  contiguous  to  the  establishments  of 
France  in  the  East  Indies." 

The  fate  of  the  three  prizes  sent  to  Bergen,  in  Norway,  has 
been  mentioned.*  They  were  valued  by  M.  Dechezaulx  the 
French  consul  there,  at  fifty  thousand  pounds  sterling  ;t  five-fold 
the  amount  recovered  for  the  prizes  sent  into  France.  The  power 
of  soliciting  payment  for  this  money  was  given  to  Jones  by  the 
general  resolution  of  Congress,  on  the  1st  November,  1783,  and 
the  authorization  of  Franklin  in  virtue  thereof,  on  the  17th  De- 
cember following.  Neither  did  he  ever  lose  sight  of  this  object, 
to  which  he  now  began  to  turn  his  attention  particularly.  In  the 
letter  addressed  by  Dr.  Franklin  to  Count  Bernstorf,  prime 
minister  of  Denmark,  in  December,  1779,  reclaiming  these 
prizes  or  their  value,  the  American  statesman  urged  every  con- 
sideration of  policy  and  equity  to  induce  a  repeal  of  the  order 
giving  them  up  to  the  English.  Bernstorf 's  reply,  written  in 
March  following,  was  a  good  sample  of  diplomatic  flourish,  eva- 
sion, and  shuffling,  vulgarly  called  in  America,  "  whipping  the 


Page  245.  t  Including  the  Charming  Polly. 


PAUL   JONES.  369 

devil  round  the  stump."  He  referred  "  for  further  particulars" 
to  the  Baron  de  Blome,  Danish  minister  at  Paris,  who  of  course 
had  nothing  but  compliments  and  condolences  to  offer  ;  and 
there  the  matter  rested,  until  the  independence  of  the  United 
States  was  recognised  by  Denmark,  and  the  advantage  of 
making  a  treaty  of  amity  and  commerce  between  the  two  na- 
tions, became  apparent  to  the  Danish  ministry.  Count  Rosen- 
crone,  the  minister  for  foreign  affairs,  wrote  in  1783,  to  M.  de 
Waltersdorf,  Danish  minister  at  London,  recommending  to 
him,  as  he  learned  that  he  was  about  making  a  tour  in  France, 
to  endeavour  as  much  as  possible  to  gain  the  confidence  and 
esteem  of  Franklin,  with  a  view  to  obtaining  a  treaty  between 
the  two  nations,  founded  on  a  basis  similar  to  that  which  had 
been  made  between  the  United  States  and  the  States  General. 
The  latter  was  intended  for  exhibition  to  Franklin,  and  of 
course  proffered  great  readiness  to  meet  with  frankness  any 
overtures  that  might  be  made.  On  this  communication  being 
made  to  him,  Franklin  proceeded  to  address  Count  Rosencrone, 
intimating  that  a  commission  would  probably  soon  be  sent  from 
the  United  States,  appointing  some  person  in  Europe  to'  enter 
into  a  treaty  with  his  Danish  majesty,  on  the  basis  suggested. 
"  To  smooth  the  way  for  obtaining  this  desirable  end,"  he 
added,  that  it  became  necessary  for  him  to  call  the  minister's 
attention  to  the  affairs  of  the  three  prizes  whose  violent  seizure 
he  was  "  inclined  to  think  a  hasty  act,  procured  by  the  impor- 
tunities and  misrepresentations  of  the  British  minister."  Some 
lime  after,  having  written  to  the  court,  Waltersdorf  informed 
Franklin  that  he  was  authorized  to  offer  a  compensation  of 
10,000  pounds,  which  was  declined,  "  because  it  was  thought 
the  value  of  the  prizes  was  the  true  measure  of  compensation, 
and  that  that  ought  to  be  inquired  into." 

In  1785,  when  Mr.  Jefferson  had  succeeded  the  sage  of  Passy, 
Jones  wrote  to  Mr.  Adams  as  minister  at  London,  on  the  sub- 
ject. It  seems  that  before  the  receipt  of  the  letter,  the  Count 
de  Waltersdorf  had  gone  to  the  West  Indies.  Jones  then  pro- 
posed assigning  his  powers  as  agent,  with  Mr.  Jefferson's  assent, 

46 


370  PAUL   JONES. 

to  his  friend  Dr.  Bancroft,  as  he  wished  to  make  the  application 
to  the  court  of  Denmark  without  further  loss  of  time.  The 
following  letter  from  Mr.  Adams,  is  dated  July  17th,  1786. 

"  I  have  received  the  letter  you  did  me  the  honour  to  write 
me  on  the  10th  of  this  month,  and  embrace  the  opportunity  by 
Colonel  Trumbull  to  answer  it.  The  Count  de  Reventlan, 
complaisantly  enough,  enclosed  my  letter  to  the  Baron  de  Wal- 
tersdorf,  in  his  despatch  to  the  Danish  ministry,  and  informed 
him  that  it  related  to  a  public  affair.  So  that  there  is  no  room 
to  doubt  that  the  letter  went  safe,  and  that  that  court  are  ac- 
quainted with  its  contents.  But  no  answer  has  been  received. 
I  am  told  that  the  Baron  de  Waltersdorf  has  been  at  Paris  and 
at  the  Hague,  long  since  the  date  of  my  letter  to  him  ;  and  I 
was  told  he  was  coming  to  London  where  I  should  see  him. 
But  he  has  not  yet  been  here.  As  there  is  a  Danish  minister 
now  in  Paris,  I  should  advise  you  to  apply  to  him ;  for  the 
foreign  ministers  in  general,  at  the  court  of  Versailles,  have  less 
weight  upon  their  spirits  in  all  things  relating  to  America,  than 
those  at  London.  Cash,  I  fancy,  is  not  an  abundant  article  in 
Denmark,  and  your  claim  has  probably  delayed  and  suspended 
all  negociations  with  Mr.  Jefferson  and  me,  respecting  a  com- 
mercial treaty,  for  which,  three  years  ago,  there  was  no  little 
zeal.  This,  however,  is  only  conjecture,  in  confidence." 

Jones  thought,  however,  that  as  the  plan  of  applying  through 
the  ambassadors  had  proved  slow  and  uncertain,  and  as  Con- 
gress had  in  June  previous  ordered  the  prize  money  paid  over 
by  him  to  be  distributed  by  the  board  of  treasury,  which  made 
his  immediate  return  to  America  unnecessary,  it  would  be 
better  for  him  to  proceed  in  person  to  Copenhagen,  of  which 
Mr.  Jefferson  approved.  Jones  asked  and  obtained  a  letter 
from  the  Count  de  Vergennes  to  the  Baron  de  la  Houze,  French 
minister  in  Denmark,  and  armed  himself  with  other  credentials. 
On  the  18th  of  August,  Mr.  Jefferson  wrote  to  Baron  de  Blome, 
who  was  at  the  waters,  informing  him  of  the  object  of  the  che- 
valier's mission,  requesting  him  to  advise  his  court  thereof, 
and  asking  his  good  offices  with  the  ministers. 


PAUL   JONES.  371 

He  did  not  go  to  Copenhagen,  but  paid  a  flying  visit  to  Ame- 
rica, the  cause  of  which  will  appear  from  the  annexed  letter  to 
Mr.  Jay,  minister  of  foreign  affairs,  written  shortly  after  his 
arrival  at  New  York.  Mr.  Jefferson  had  not  full  powers  to 
allow  the  charge  made  by  him  for  his  expenses,  while  soliciting 
payment  of  ttoe  prize  money ;  which  may  have  had  some  par- 
tial influence  in  inducing  this  deviation  from  his  immediate 
purpose.  "  I  left  Paris  in  the  spring,  and  went  as  far  as  Brus- 
sels on  my  way  to  Copenhagen,  when  an  unforeseen  circum- 
stance in  my  private  affairs  rendered  it  indispensable  for  me 
to  turn  about  and  cross  the  ocean.  My  private  business  here 
being  already  finished,  I  shall  in  a  few  days  re-embark  for 
Europe,  in  order  to  proceed  to  the  court  of  Denmark.  It  is 
my  intention  to  go  by  the  way  of  Paris,  in  order  to  obtain  a  let- 
ter to  the  French  minister  at  Copenhagen,  from  the  Count  de 
Montmorin,  as  the  one  I  obtained  is  from  the  Count  de  Ver- 
gennes.  It  would  be  highly  flattering  to  me  if  I  could  carry  a 
letter  with  me  from  Congress  to  his  most  Christian  majesty, 
thanking  him  for  the  squadron  he  did  us  the  honour  to  support 
under  our  flag.  And  on  this  occasion,  sir,  permit  me,  with  be- 
coming diffidence,  to  recall  the  attention  of  my  sovereign  to  the 
letter  of  recommendation  I  brought  with  me  from  the  court  of 
France,  dated  30th  May,  1780.  It  would  be  pleasing  to  me  if 
that  letter  should  be  found  to  merit  a  place  on  the  journals  of 
Congress.  Permit  me  also  to  entreat  that  Congress  will  be 
pleased  to  read  the  letter  I  received  from  the  minister  of  ma- 
rine, when  his  majesty  deigned  to  bestow  on  me  a  golden-hilted 
sword,  emblematical  of  the  happy  alliance  ;  an  honour  which 
his  majesty  never  conferred  on  any  other  foreign  officer.  1 
owed  the  high  favour  I  enjoyed  at  the  court  of  France  in  a  great 
degree  to  the  favourable  testimony  of  my  conduct  which  had 
been  communicated  by  his  majesty's  ambassador,  under  whose 
eye  I  acted  in  the  most  critical  situation  in  the  Texel,  as  well 
as  to  the  public  opinion  of  Europe.  And  the  letter  with  which 
I  was  honoured  by  the  prime  minister  of  France,  when  I  was 
about  to  return  to  America,  is  a  clear  proof  that  we  might  have 


372  PAUL   JONES. 

drawn  still  greater  advantages  from  the  generous  disposition  of 
our  ally,  if  our  marine  had  not  been  lost  whilst  I  was,  under 
perplexing  circumstances,  detained  in  Europe,  after  I  had  given 
the  Count  de  Maurepas  my  plan  for  forming  a  combined  squad 
ron  of  ten  or  twelve  sail  of  frigates,  supported  by  the  America 
with  a  detachment  of  French  troops  on  board  ;  thd>  whole  at  the 
expense  of  his  majesty. 

"  It  is  certain  that  I  am  much  flattered  by  receiving  a  gold 
sword  from  the  most  illustrious  monarch  now  living ;  but  I  had 
refused  to  accept  his  commission  on  two  occasions  before  that 
time,  when  some  firmness  was  necessary  to  resist  the  tempta- 
tion. He  was  not  my  sovereign  ;  I  served  the  cause  of  freedom ; 
and  honours  from  my  sovereign  would  be  more  pleasing.  Since 
the  year  1775,  when  I  displayed  the  American  flag  for  the  first 
lime  with  my  own  hands,  I  have  been  constantly  devoted  to  the 
interests  of  America.  Foreigners  have,  perhaps,  given  me  too 
much  credit,  and  this  may  have  raised  my  ideas  of  my  services 
above  their  real  value ;  but  my  zeal  can  never  be  over-rated. 

"  I  should  act  inconsistently  if  I  omitted  to  mention  the 
dreadful  situation  of  our  unhappy  fellow-citizens  in  slavery  at 
Algiers.  Their  almost  hopeless  fate  is  a  deep  reflection  on  our 
national  character  in  Europe.  I  beg  leave  to  influence  the 
humanity  of  Congress  in  their  behalf,  and  to  propose  that  some 
expedient  may  be  adopted  for  their  redemption.  A  fund  might 
be  raised  for  that  purpose,  by  a  duty  of  a  shilling  per  month 
from  seamen's  wages,  throughout  the  continent,  and  I  am  per- 
suaded that  no  difficulty  would  be  made  to  that  requisition." 

The  reasons  of  Jones  for  returning  thus  suddenly  to  America, 
are  further  explained  in  his  letters  to  Mr.  Jefferson  and  Dr. 
Bancroft  in  September  of  this  year.  He  had  expected  to  re- 
ceive at  Brussels  the  necessary  funds  for  his  journey  to,  and 
business  at  Copenhagen ;  but  was  altogether  disappointed.  He 
also  met  with  difficulty  and  loss  in  disposing  of  part  of  his  bank 
stock  while  in  America. 

A  letter  of  June  23d,  from  Madame  T ,  informed  him 

of  the  sudden  death  of  her  friend  and  protectress  the  Marquise 


PAUL    JOIfES.  373 

de  Marsaji,  who  had  introduced  her  to  the  king.  He  says, 
writing  to  Dr.  Bancroft:  "this  is  also  a  great  grief  and  loss  to 
me,  as  I  had  in  that  lady  a  valuable  friend."  To  Mr.  Jeffer- 
son he  said:  "  the  letter  you  sent  me,  left  the  feeling  author  all 
in  tears  !  Her  friend — her  protectress — her  introductressto  the 
king,  was  suddenly  dead!  She  was  in  despair  !  She  lost  more 
than  a  mother  !  A  loss,  indeed,  that  nothing  can  repair ;  for 
fortune  and  favour  are  never  to  be  compared  to  tried  friend- 
ship. I  hope,  however,  she  has  gone  to  visit  the  king  in  July, 
agreeably  to  his  appointment  given  her  in  the  month  of  March. 
I  am  persuaded  that  he  would  receive  her  with  additional  kind- 
ness, and  that  her  loss  would,  in  his  mind,  be  a  new  claim  to 
his  protection ;  especially  as  he  well  knows  and  has  acknow- 
ledged her  superior  merit  and  just  pretensions.  As  I  feel  the 
greatest  concern  for  the  situation  of  this  worthy  lady,  you  will 
render  me  a  great  favour  by  writing  a  note,  requesting  her  to 
call  on  you,  as  you  have  something  to  communicate  from  me. 
When  she  comes,  be  so  good  as  to  deliver  her  the  within  let- 
ter, and  show  her  this ;  that  she  may  see  both  my  confidence 
in  you  and  my  advice  to  her." 

His  letter  to  the  lady  was  as  follows : 

"  New  York,  September  4,  1787. 

"  No  language  can  convey  to  my  fair  mourner  the  tender 
sorrow  I  feel  on  her  account !  The  loss  of  our  worthy  friend  is 
indeed  a  fatal  stroke !  It  is  an  irreparable  misfortune  which  can 
only  be  alleviated  by  this  one  reflection,  that  it  is  the  will  of 
God,  whose  providence  has,  I  hope,  other  blessings  in  store  for 
us.  She  was  a  tried  friend,  and  more  than  a  mother  to  you  ! 
She  would  have  been  a  mother  to  me  also  had  she  lived.  We 
have  lost  her  !  Let  us  cherish  her  memory,  and  send  up  grate- 
ful thanks  to  th3  Almighty  that  we  once  had  such  a  friend.  I 
cannot  but  flatter  myself  that  you  have  yourself  gone  to  the 
king  in  July  as  he  had  appointed.  I  am  sure  your  loss  will 
be  a  new  inducement  for  him  to  protect  you,  and  render  you 
justice.  He  will  hear  you,  I  am  sure ;  and  you  may  safely  un- 


374  PAUL.  JOKES. 

bosom  yourself  to  him,  and  ask  his  advice,  which  cannot  bu$. 
be  flattering  to  him  to  give  you.  Tell  him  you  must  look  on 
him  as  your  father  and  protector.  If  it  were  necessary,  I  think, 
too,  that  the  Count  d'A ,*  his  brother,  would,  on  your  per- 
sonal application,  render  you  good  offices  by  speaking  in  your 
favour.  I  should  like  it  better,  however,  if  you  can  do  with- 
out him.  Mr.  Jefferson  will  show  you  my  letter  of  this  date  to 
him.  You  will  see  by  it  how  disgracefully  I  have  been  detained 
here  by  the  board  of  treasury.  It  is  impossible  for  me  to  stir 
from  this  place  till  I  obtain  their  settlement  on  the  business  I 
have  already  performed  ;  and  as  the  season  is  already  far 
advanced,  I  expect  to  be  ordered  to  embark  directly  for  the 
place  of  my  destination  in  the  north.  Mr.  Jefferson  will  for- 
ward me  your  letters.  I  am  almost  without  money,  and  much 
puzzled  to  obtain  a  supply.  I  have  written  to  Dr.  Bancroft  to 
endeavour  to  assist  me.  I  mention  this  with  infinite  regret, 
and  for  no  other  reason  than  because  it  is  impossible  for  me  to 
transmit  you  a  supply  under  my  present  circumstances.  This 
is  my  fifth  letter  to  you  since  I  left  Paris.  The  two  last  were 
from  France,  and  I  sent  them  by  duplicates.  But  you  say 
nothing  of  having  received  any  letters  from  me  !  Summon,  my 
dear  friend,  all  your  resolution  !  Exert  yourself,  and  plead 
your  own  cause.  You  cannot  fail  of  success ;  your  cause  would 
move  a  heart  of  flint !  Present  my  best  respects  to  your  sister. 
You  did  not  mention  her  in  your  letter  ;  but  I  persuade  myself 
she  will  continue  her  tender  care  of  her  sweet  godson,  and  that 
you  will  cover  him  all  over  with  kisses  from  me  ;  they  come 
warm  to  you  both  from  the  heart !" 

He  says,  in  his  letter  to  Mr.  Jefterson:  "  I  should  have  re- 
turned by  the  July  packet,  but  was  unexpectedly  detained  by 
the  treasury  ;  and  notwithstanding  my  continual  pressing  appli- 
cation since  that  time,  the  board  has  not  yet  reported  to  Con- 


*  Count  d'Artois,  now  Charles  X. 


PAUL  JONES.  375 

gress  on  ray  business  done  with  the  court  of  France.  There  is 
no  Congress  at  this  moment ;  but  as  the  grand  convention  is 
expected  to  rise  about  the  20th,  there  is  little  doubt  but  that 
Congress  will  be  full  soon  afterwards.  The  board,  I  under- 
stand, is  now  ready  to  report.  I  expect  to  obtain  from  Congress 
a  letter  of  thanks  to  the  king,  for  the  force  he  put  under  my 
command,  and  supported  under  the  flag  of  the  United  States ; 
and  my  promotion  has  been  talked  of,  to  date  from  the  day  I 
took  the  Serapis." 

The  report  of  the  board  of  treasury  was  not  satisfactory  to 
him.  He  made,  among  others,  the  following  comments  upon  it. 
"  The  settlement  that  I  made  with  the  court  of  France  had 
first  Dr.  Franklin's,  and  afterwards  Mr.  Jefferson's  approbation, 
in  every  stage  and  article  of  the  business  ;  and  I  presume  it 
will  be  found,  at  least  so  far  as  depended  on  me,  to  merit  that 
of  the  United  States.  The  board  of  treasury  have  been  pleased 
in  their  report  to  treat  me  as  a  mere  agent,  though  employed 
in  that  delicate  national  concern.  In  France  I  was  received  and 
treated  by  the  king  and  his  ministers  as  a  general  officer  and  a 
special  minister  from  Congress.  The  credit  with  which  I  am 
honoured  as  an  officer,  in  the  opinion  of  Europe,  and  the  per- 
sonal intimacy  I  have  with  many  great  characters  at  Paris,  with 
my  exclusive  knowledge  of  all  circumstances  relative  to  the 
business,  insured  me  a  success  which  no  other  man  could  have 
obtained.  My  situation  subjected  me  to  considerable  expense. 
I  went  to  court  much  oftener,  and  mixed  with  the  great  much 
more  frequently,  than  our  minister  plenipotentiary,  yet  the 
gentlemen  in  that  situation  consider  their  salary  of  two  thou- 
sand sterling  a  year  as  scarcely  adequate  to  their  expenses." 

Speaking  of  Landais,  he  says :  "  The  board  seems  very 
zealous  for  the  interests  of  that  broken  and  disgraced  officer.  I 
shall  say  nothing  in  opposition  to  his  interests  ;  but  I  am  pos- 
sessed of  ample  testimony,  that  if  he  had  been  tried  on  my  ac- 
cusation, (instead  of  being  broke  and  disgraced  for  bringing 
away  the  Alliance  from  France,  after  his  being  suspended  by 
Dr.  Franklin,)  the  judgment  of  the  court  martial  would  have 


376  PAUL  JONES. 

been  of  a  more  grave  and  serious  nature ;  a  glaring  proof, 
among  many  others,  that  we  had  no  system  for  the  government  of 
our  navy,  and  that  we  need  not  at  this  date  be  so  tenacious  of 
its  vaunted  ordinances ;  especially  in  a  delicate  case  between 
two  nations,  where  they  cannot  in  all  respects  be  applied  to  the 
letter."  The  letter  from  which  the  foregoing  extracts  are  made, 
was  addressed  to  the  chairman  of  a  committee  on  the  report  of 
the  board  of  treasury.-  It  is  a  bold  and  able  vindication  of  his 
conduct  and  claims  ;  but  is  too  long  for  insertion.  He  says  in 
the  course  of  it,  "  The  proposition  of  the  board  of  treasury,  that 
I  should  give  new  securities  for  the  business  I  am  to  transact  in 
Denmark,  cannot  be  complied  with.  The  securities  I  gave 
with  my  own,  are  men  of  property,  and  their  known  honour  and 
honesty  set  their  characters  above  any  attack.  They  have  both 
of  them  been  able  and  faithful  servants  of  the  American  cause." 

Congress  was  disposed  to  act  with  more  liberality  than  the 
board,  and  all  Jones  wished  for  was  more  than  accomplished. 
His  letter  to  Mr.  Jay  was  in  part  referred  back  to  that  gentle- 
man for  his  report.  On  this  occasion  he  took  the  opportunity 
of  again  urging  the  hints  he  had  suggested  in  the  conclusion. 
"  I  beg  leave,"  he  said,  "  to  observe  on  the  latter  part  of  that 
letter,  respecting  the  fund  I  wish  to  see  established  for  the  re- 
demption of  our  fellow-citizens  at  Algiers,  that  I  had  also  in 
view,  at  the  time,  a  national  establishment,  on  the  plan  of  the 
Greenwich  Hospital  in  England,  or  Hotel  des  Invalids  at  Paris, 
which  would  be  effected  from  the  residue  of  the  increasing  fund 
I  have  proposed.  I  beg  you,  therefore,  sir,  to  take  notice  of 
this  in  your  report." 

On  the  report  made  by  a  committee,  Congress  passed  reso- 
lutions on  the  llth  October,  confirming  the  quotas  assigned  to 
the  several  ships  which  had  been  under  his  command,  and  di- 
recting a  distribution  to  be  made  agreeably  thereto,*  and  on 
the  16th,  that  body  passed  the  following  resolution. 


"  Mr.  Carrington  moved  on  this  day  a  resolution  to  the  effect  that,  though  the  terms 
open  which  Jones  originally  undertook  the  negociation,  were  for  the  usual  commis- 


PAUL   JONES.  377 

'  Resolved  unanimously ',  That  a  medal  of  gold  be  struck,  and 
presented  to  the  Chevalier  John  Paul  Jones,  in  commemoration 
of  the  valour  and  brilliant  services  of  that  officer,  in  the  com- 
mand of  a  squadron  of  American  and  French  ships  under  the 
flag  and  commission  of  the  United  States,  off  the  coast  of  Great 
Britain,  in  the  late  war  ;  and  that  the  Honourable  Mr.  Jeffer- 
son, minister  plenipotentiary  of  the  United  States  at  the  court 
of  Versailles,  have  the  same  executed,  with  the  proper  devices." 
It  was  also  resolved,  that  a  letter  should  be  written  to  the 
king  of  France,  which  was  drawn  up  by  Mr.  Jay,  and  was  as 
follow 

"  To  His  Most  Christian  Majesty,  Lotus,  King  of  France  and 

Navarre. 

"  GREAT  AND  BELOVED  FRIEND  ! 

"  We,  the  United  States  in  Congress  assembled,  in  consider- 
ation of  the  distinguished  marks  of  approbation  with  which  your 
majesty  has  been  pleased  to  honour  the  Chevalier  John  Paul 
Jones  as  well  as  from  a  sense  of  his  merit,  have  unanimously 
directed  a  medal  of  gold  to  be  struck  and  presented  to  him,  in 
commemoration  of  his  valour  and  brilliant  services  while  com- 
manding a  squadron  of  French  and  American  ships,  under 
our  flag  and  commission,  off  the  coast  of  Great  Britain,  in  the 

late  war. 

"  As  it  is  his  earnest  desire  to  acquire  knowledge  in  his  pro- 
fession, we  cannot  forbear  requesting  of  your  majesty  to  permit 


sions,  yet  as  the  business  was  found  to  stand  upon  materially  different  ground  from 
that  contemplated  at  the  time  of  the  appointment,  it  was  just  and  reasonable  that  the 
full  value  of  the  services  and  expenses  necessarily  incurred  should  be  deducted  from  the 
property  recovered ;  and  that  he  should  be  authorized  to  retain  the  47,972  livres  in  his 
hands.  Mr.  H.  Lee  moved  to  postpone  the  consideration  of  this  motion,  and  offered 
another,  viz :  that  the  excess  of  money  expended  over  the  amount  of  commission 
should  be  paid  out  of  the  federal  treasury.  On  the  question  of  postponement,  the  ayes 
were  only  four.  On  the  question  to  agree  to  Mr.  Carrington's  motion,  the  delegates  of 
eight  States  voted  for  it,  two  against  it,  and  those  of  Virginia  were  divided.  New  Hamp- 
shire and  Maryland  had  each  only  a  single  delegate  present.  So  the  question  was  lost 

47 


378 


PAUL   JONES. 


him  to  embark  in  your  fleets  of  evolution,  where  only  it  will  be 
probably  in  his  power  to  acquire  that  degree  of  knowledge  which 
may  hereafter  render  him  most  extensively  useful. 

';  Permit  us  to  repeat  to  your  majesty,  our  sincere  assurances, 
that  the  various  and  important  benefits  for  which  we  are  indebt- 
ed to  your  friendship  will  never  cease  to  interest  us  in  whatever 
may  concern  the  happiness  of  your  majesty,  your  family,  and 
people.  We  pray  God  to  keep  you,  our  great  and  beloved 
friend,  under  his  holy  protection. 

*  Done  at  the  city  of  New  York,  the  16th  day  of  October,  in  the 
year  of  our  Lord  1787,  and  of  our  sovereignty  and  indepen- 
dence the  12th." 

On  the  24th  of  October,  we  find  the  following  letter  to 

Madame  T ,  the  last  that  appears  among  his  papers  ; 

nor  is  there  any  further  record  of  his  intercourse  with  that  lady. 

"  The  last  French  packet  brought  no  letter  to  me  from  the 
person  whose  happiness  is  dearer  to  me  than  any  thing  else.  I 
have  been  on  the  rack  of  fear  and  apprehension,  and  am  totally 
unable  to  account  for  that  silence  !  My  business  is  done  here, 
and  the  moment  of  my  return  to  Europe  approaches.  My  sen- 
timents are  unchanged,  and  my  impatience  can  better  be  ima- 
gined than  expressed.  I  have  been  honoured  here  beyond  my 
own  expectations.  But  your  silence  makes  even  honours  in- 
sipid. I  am,  however,  far  from  blaming  you  ;  want  of  health, 
or  some  other  misfortune  must  have  interposed.  If  this  reaches 
you,  remember  me  affectionately  to  your  sister  and  her  godson. 
May  Heaven  avert  all  trouble  from  you." 

On  the  25th,  Congress  passed  resolutions,  authorizing  and 
instructing  the  minister  at  Versailles  to  make  proper  represent- 
ations to  his  Danish  majesty  on  the  subject  of  the  claim  against 
him,  to  settle  the  demand,  and  to  despatch  the  Chevalier  Paul 
Jones,  or  such  other  agent  as  he  might  appoint,  with  powers  to 
carry  on  the  negociation,  subject  to  his  eventual  approbation. 
Five  per  cent,  commissions  was  to  be  allowed,  for  all  expenses 
and  demands  whatever. 


PAUL   JONK8. 

The  following  is  an  extract  from  a  letter  of  Jones  to  Mr.  Jef- 
ferson, dated  the  24th. 

"  I  should  have  embarked  in  the;  packet  that  will  sail  for 
Havre  to-morrow  morning  ;  but  an  account  having  arrived  here 
that  the  English  fleet  is  out,  and  was  seen  steering  to  the  west- 
ward, and  that  a  British  squadron  is  cruising  in  the  North  Sea, 
has  induced  me,  with  the  advice  of  my  friends,  to  postpone  my 
embarkation  till  the  next  opportunity,  an  American  ship,  about 
the  beginning  of  next  month." 

More  than  once  he  intimates  apprehensions,  that  he  was  not 
safe  from  English  resentment.  They  are  treated  in  the  Edin- 
burgh Biography  with  levity.  There  is  some  mystery  in  his 
being  desirous  not  to  attract  public  attention  at  the  commence- 
ment of  this  mission,  which  cannot  be  cleared  up ;  though  it 
may  be  conjectured  that  he  was  uncertain  as  to  what  course  he 
should  pursue,  or  what  service  he  might  engage  in.  It  is  barely 
possible  that  he  may  have  had  some  views  to  the  brilliant  pro- 
spect which  in  fact  opened  upon  him,  on  his  arrival  in  Europe, 
and  which  held  out  a  far  more  glorious  promise  than  being 
permitted  to  embark  for  improvement  in  the  French  fleets  of 
evolution.  However  this  may  be,  he  sailed  from  New  York  on 
the  llth  December,  landed  at  Dover  on  account  of  unfavour- 
able weather,  and  after  spending  a  few  days  in  London,*  where 
he  conferred  with  Adams  on  the  objects  of  his  mission,  he  re- 
paired forthwith  to  Paris.  The  following  was  his  first  com- 
munication, to  Mr.  Jefferson. 

[PRIVATE.] 

"  Hotel  tie  Bcauvais,  rue  tie  metix  Augustines. 
Paris,  December  12, 1787. 

"  His  Excellency  THOMAS  JEFFERSON, 

"  SIR — I  am  just  arrived  here  from  England.  I  left  New 
York  the  llth  of  November,  and  have  brought  public  despatches 


*  He  went,  he  say8,  to  Covent  Garden  Theatre ;  which  does  not  indicate  that  he 
was  afraid  of  popular  resentment. 


PAWL   JONES. 

and  a  number  of  private  letters  for  you.  I  would  have  waited 
on  you  immediately,  instead  of  writing,  but  I  have  several 
strong  reasons  for  desiring  that  no  person  should  know  of  my 
being  here  till  I  have  seen  you,  and  been  favoured  with  your 
advice  on  the  steps  I  ought  to  pursue.  I  have  a  letter  from 
Congress  for  the  king,  and  perhaps  you  will  think  it  advisable 
not  to  present  it  at  this  moment.  I  shall  not  go  out  till  I  hear 
from,  or  see  you.  And,  as  the  people  in  this  hotel  do  not  know 
my  name,  you  will  please  to  ask  for  the  gentleman  just  arrived, 
who  is  lodged  in  No.  1." 

At  the  interview  thus  solicited,  Mr.  Jefferson  made  a  com- 
munication to  him,  which,  though  he  says  in  his  Journal  he  at  first 
treated  it  as  chimerical,  must,  unanticipated  as  it  probably  was, 
have  awakened  ambitious  hopes  and  dreams  of  glory  too  pow- 
erful and  vivid  not  to  be  entertained  and  deeply  meditated  upon. 
He  informed  him,  that  in  several  conversations  he  had  held 
with  M.  Simolin,  the  Russian  ambassador  at  Versailles,  the 
latter  had  intimated  his  opinion  that  it  would  be  of  great  impor- 
tance to  the  empress,  if  she  could  engage  the  services  of  the 
chevalier  in  the  war  she  was  carrying  on  against  the  Turks. 
He  was  not  authorized  to  make  any  specific  proposition  ;  but 
the  hint  was  certainly  not  unattended  to  by  the  commodore. 

On  the  24th  December,  he  submitted  to  Mr.  Jefferson's  peru- 
sal his  documents  in  relation  to  the  claim  on  Denmark.  He 
says,  in  conclusion  :  "  I  have  explained  to  the  board  of  treasury 
the  mistake  that  was  made,  in  calling  the  ships  in  question 
'  prizes  of  the  Alliance  ;'  and  left  them  perfectly  convinced  that 
the  prizes  belong  to  the  squadron  in  general.*  Now,  as  his 
most  Christian  majesty  was  at  the  whole  expense  of  supporting 
the  squadron  I  commanded,  including  the  expense  of  the  Alli- 
ance, I  submit  to  you  what  kind  of  support  would  be  most  pro- 


*  As  these  prizes  had  been  commissioned  to  war  upon  American  vessels,  &c.  they 
belonged  wholly  to  the  captors. 


PAUL  JONES.  381 

per  for  this  court  to  afford  to  my  reclamation  at  the  court  of 
Denmark  ?  If  is  the  duty  of  this  government  to  interest  itself 
in  behalf  of  the  French  subjects  who  were  embarked  under  my 
orders.  In  doing  this,  would  it  be  most  proper  to  authorize  me 
to  act  for  them  in  common  with  the  Americans  ;  or  to  direct 
the  Baron  de  la  Houze  to  support  my  application  ?" 

On  the  24th  of  January  following,  he  received  his  credentials 
from  Mr.  Jefferson,  according  to  the  tenor  of  the  Act  of  Con- 
gress, and  soon  after  set  out  for  Copenhagen.  The  following 
letter  to  Mr.  Jefferson  explains  the  circumstances  of  his  arrival 
and  reception.  It  is  dated  March  llth. 

"I  have  been  so  much  indisposed  since  my  arrival  here  the 
4th,  from  the  fatigue  and  excessive  cold  I  suffered  on  the  road, 
that  I  have  been  obliged  to  confine  myself  almost  constantly  to 
my  chamber.  I  have  kept  my  bed  for  several  days  ;  but  I  now 
feel  myself  better,  and  hope  the  danger  is  over.  On  my  arri- 
val, I  paid  my  respects  to  the  minister  of  France.  He  received 
me  with  great  kindness ;  we  went,  five  days  ago,  to  the  minis- 
ter of  foreign  affairs.  I  was  much  flattered  with  my  reception, 
and  our  conversation  was  long  and  very  particular  respecting 
America  and  the  new  constitution,  of  which  I  presented  a  copy. 
He  observed,  that  it  had  struck  him  as  a  very  dangerous  power 
to  make  the  president  commander-in-chief ;  in  other  respects  it 
appeared  to  please  him  much,  as  leading  to  a  near  and  sure 
treaty  of  commerce  between  America  and  Denmark.  It  was  a 
day  of  public  business,  and  I  could  not  do  more  than  present 
your  letter.  I  shall  follow  the  business  closely.  In  a  few  days, 
when  I  am  re-established  in  health,  I  am  to  be  presented  to  the 
whole  court,  and  to  sup  with  the  king.  I  shall  after  that  be 
presented  to  all  the  corps  diplomatique  and  other  persons  of 
distinction  here.  I  am  infinitely  indebted  to  the  attentions  I 
receive  from  the  minister  of  France.  I  made  the  inquiry  you 
desired  in  Holland,  and  should  then  have  written  to  you  in  con- 
sequence, had.  I  not  been  assured,  by  authority,  (M.  Van  Stop- 
horst,)  that  I  could  not  doubt  that  letters  had  been  sent  you  on 


882  PAtTL   JONES, 

the  subject,  that  could  not  fail  of  giving  you  satisfaction.  M. 
Van  Stophorst  was  very  obliging.  At  Hamburgh,  I  ordered 
the  smoked  beef  you  desired  to  be  sent  to  you,  to  the  care  of 
the  American  agent  at  Havre  de  Grace ;  you  have  nothing  to 
do  but  receive  it,  paying  what  little  charges  may  be  on  it.  My 
ill  health  and  fatigue  on  the  road  hindered  me  from  preparing 
the  extract  of  the  engagement.  When  you  see  M.  Littlepage,* 
I  pray  you  to  present  my  kind  compliments.  It  is  said  here 
that  the  empress  confides  the  commerce  of  her  fleet,  that  will 
pass  the  Sound,  to  Admiral  Greig  ;  and  that  he  means  to  call 
at  an  English  port  to  take  provisions,  &c.  The  Hamburgh 
papers,  I  am  told,  have  announced  the  death  of  Dr.  Franklin. 
I  shall  be  extremely  concerned  if  the  account  prove  true — God 
forbid !" 

• 

In  a  subsequent  letter  of  the  18th,  he  states: 
"  Yesterday  his  excellency  the  Baron  de  la  Houze,  minister 
plenipotentiary  of  France,  at  this  court,  did  me  the  honour  to 
present  me  publicly  to  his  majesty,  the  royal  family,  and  chief 
personages  at  the  royal  palace  here. 

"I  had  a  very  polite  and  distinguished  reception.  The  queen 
dowager  conversed  with  me  for  some  time,  and  said  the  most 
civil  things.  Her  majesty  has  a  dignity  of  person  and  deport- 
ment which  becomes  her  well,  and  which  she  has  the  secret  to 
reconcile  with  great  affability  and  ease.  The  princess  royal  is 
a  charming  person,  and  the  graces  are  so  much  her  own,  that  it 
is  impossible  to  see  and  converse  with  her  without  paying  her 
that  homage  which  artless  beauty  and  good  nature  will  ever 
command.  All  the  royal  family  spoke  to  me  except  the  king, 
who  speaks  to  no  person  when  presented.  His  majesty  saluted 
me  with  great  complaisance  at  first,  and  as  often  afterwards  as 
we  met  in  the  course  of  the  evening.  The  prince  royal  is  greatly 
beloved  and  extremely  affable ;  he  asked  me  a  number  of  per-' 

.- 
*  Chamberlain  to  the  king  of  Poland. 


PAVL   JONES.  383 

tinent  questions  respecting  America.  I  had  the  honour  to  be 
invited  to  sup  with  his  majesty  and  the  royal  family.  The  com- 
pany at  table  (consisting  of  seventy  ladies  and  gentlemen,  inclu- 
ding the  royal  family,  the  ministers  of  state,  and  foreign  ambas- 
sadors) was  very  brilliant." 

It  will  be  seen  that  he  lost  no  time,  as  soon  as  his  health  per- 
mitted, in  pressing  the  objects  of  his  mission;  and  though  he 
was  at  the  same  time  engaged  in  a  separate  negociation  with 
Baron  Krudner,  the  Russian  envoy  at  the  Court  of  Denmark, 
he  appears  to  have  urged  his  demands  of  indemnification  for 
the  lost  prizes  with  at  least  as  much  rapidity  and  energy  as 
the  proprieties  of  diplomacy  admitted.  And  though  he  had 
very  soon  made  up  his  mind  about  the  Russian  offers,  as  will 
be  seen  from  his  letters,  this  did  not  occasion  the  abandon- 
ment of  his  application,  which  was  got  rid  of  by  the  Danish 
minister  on  formal  pretexts,  and  by  promises  not  made  to  be  kept. 

On  the  19th  of  March,  he  addresses  M.  De  Chezaulx,  who 
was  still  consul  at  Bergen  in  Norway,  asking  him  to  communi- 
cate what  he  knew  and  believed  "  in  relation  to  the  true  and  en- 
tire value  of  the  prizes.  *  *  *  *  From  the  favourable  reception," 
he  says,  "  with  which  I  have  been  honoured  at  this  court,  I  have 
reason  to  hope  that  my  mission  here  will  be  amicably  concluded. 
Please  to  address  your  letter  under  cover  to  the  Baron  de  la 
Houze,  to  whose  kind  attention  and  good  offices,!  am  under  infi- 
nite obligations.  I  have  the  honour  to  subjoin  a  letter  from  'the 
committee  of  foreign  affairs  to  Dr.  Franklin,  in  the  name  arid 
by  order  of  Congress,  thanking  you  for  your  conduct  respecting 
my  prizes,  and  the  interests  of  the  citizens  of  the  United  States." 
It  would  appear  from  a  letter  to  Mr.  Jefferson,  written  on  the 
20th,  that  the  court  of  France  had  made  no  formal  communica- 
tion to  their  minister  at  Copenhagen,  (the  Baron  de  la  Houze,) 
directing  him  to  support  the  claim.  "I  pray  you,"  he  wrote, 
"and  so  does  he,  to  push  that  point  immediately." 

On  the  24th,  he  thus  addressed  the  Danish  minister  of  fo- 
reign affairs,  Compte  de  Bernstorf.  "From  the  Act  of  Congress, 
(the  Act  by  which  I  am  honoured  with  a  gold  medal,)  I  had  the 


384  PAUL  JONES. 

honour  to  show  your  excellency  the  21st  of  this  month,  as  weJI 
as  from  the  conversation  that  followed,  you  must  be  convinced 
that  circumstances  do  not  permit  me  to  remain  here  :  but  that 
I  am  under  the  necessity,  either  to  return  to  France  or  to  pro- 
ceed to  Russia.  As  the  minister  of  the  United  States  of  Ame- 
rica at  Paris  gave  me  the  perusal  of  the  packet  he  wrote  by  me, 
and  which  I  had  the  honour  to  present  to  you  on  my  arrival 
here,  it  is  needless  to  go  into  any  detail  on  the  object  of  my  mis- 
sion to  this  court ;  which  Mr.  Jefferson  has  particularly  explained. 
The  promise  you  have  given  me,  of  a  prompt  and  explicit  de- 
cision, from  this  court,  on  the  Act  of  Congress  of  the  25th  of 
October  last,  inspires  me  with  full  confidence.  I  have  been  very 
particular  in  communicating  to  the  United  States  all  the  polite 
attentions  with  which  I  have  been  honoured  at  this  court ;  and 
they  will  learn  with  great  pleasure  the  kind  reception  I  had 
from  you.  I  felicitated  myself  on  being  the  instrument  to  settle 
the  delicate  national  business  in  question,  with  a  minister  who 
conciliates  the  views  of  the  wise  statesman  with  the  noble  senti- 
ments and  cultivated  mind  of  the  true  philosopher  and  man  of 
letters." 

On  the  27th,  I  find  a  letter  from  Mr.  Jefferson  to  Jones, 
dated  at  Amsterdam,  where  he  had  been  staying  some  time 
longer  than  he  had  anticipated.  He  merely  informs  him  of 
the  delay  in  receiving  news  from  America  ;  that  there  had  been 
a  rise  of  ten  per  cent,  in  the  English  bank  stock :  and  that  the 
government  of  that  country  refused  to  receive  or  furnish  refresh- 
ments to  the  Russian  squadron  destined  to  the  Mediterranean 
On  the  30th,  Jones  again  assailed  Count  Bernstorf. 

"  Your  silence  on  the  subject  of  my  mission  from  the  United 
States  to  this  court  leaves  me  in  the  most  painful  suspense  ;  the 
more  so,  as  I  have  made  your  excellency  acquainted  with  the 
promise  I  am  under  to  proceed  as  soon  as  possible  to  St.  Peters- 
burgh.  This  being  the  ninth  year  since  the  three  prizes  reclaim- 
ed by  the  United  States  were  seized  upon  in  the  port  of  Bergen, 
in  Norway,  it  is  to  be  presumed  that  this  court  has  long  since 
taken  an  ultimate  resolution  respecting  the  compensation  de- 


PAUL   JONES.  385 

mand  made  by  Congress.  Though  I  am  extremely  sensible  of 
the  favourable  reception  with  which  I  have  been  distinguished 
at  this  court,  and  am  particularly  flattered  by  the  polite  atten- 
tions with  which  you  have  honoured  me  at  every  conference  ; 
yet  I  have  remarked,  with  great  concern,  that  you  have  never 
led  the  conversation  to  the  object  of  my  mission  here.  A  man  of 
your  liberal  sentiments  will  not,  therefore,  be  surprised,  or  of- 
fended at  my  plain  dealing,  when  I  repeat  that  I  impatiently 
expect  a  prompt  and  categorical  answer,  in  writing,  from  this 
court,  to  the  Act  of  Congress  of  the  25th  of  October  last.  Both 
my  duty  and  the  circumstances  of  my  situation  constrain  me  to 
make  this  demand  in  the  name  of  my  sovereign  the  United 
States  of  America  ;  but  I  beseech  you  to  believe,  that  though  I 
am  extremely  tenacious  of  the  honour  of  the  American  Jiag,  yet 
my  personal  interest  in  the  decision  I  now  ask  would  never 
have  induced  me  to  present  myself  at  this  court.  You  are  too 
just,  sir,  to  delay  my  business  here  ;  which  would  put  me  under 
the  necessity  to  break  the  promise  I  have  made  to  her  imperial 
majesty,  conformable  to  your  advice." 

To  this  the  count  was  obliged  to  reply,  which  he  did,  as  fol- 
lows, on  the  4th  of  April. 

"  You  have  requested  of  me  an  answer  to  the  letter  you  did 
me  the  honour  to  remit  me  from  Mr.  Jefferson,  minister  pleni- 
potentiary of  the  United  States  of  America,  near  his  most  Chris- 
tian majesty.  I  do  it  with  so  much  more  pleasure,  as  you  have 
inspired  me  with  as  much  interest  as  confidence,  ami  this  occa- 
sion appears  to  me  favourable  to  make  known  the  sentiments  of 
the  king  my  master,  on  the  objects  to  which  we  attach  so  much 
importance.  Nothing  can  be  farther  from  the  plans  and  the 
wishes  of  his  majesty  than  to  let  fall  a  negociation  which  has  only 
been  suspended  in  consequence  of  circumstances  arising  from 
the  necessity  of  maturing  a  new  situation,  so  as  to  enlighten 
himself  on  their  reciprocal  interests,  and  to  avoid  the  inconve- 
nience of  a  precipitate  and  imperfect  arrangement.  I  am 

43 


386  PAUL  JONES. 

authorized,  sir,  to  give  you,  and  through  you  to  Mr.  Jefferson, 
the  word  of  the  king,  that  his  majesty  will  renew  the  negotia- 
tion for  a  treaty  of  amity  and  commerce  in  the  forms  already 
agreed  upon,  at  the  instant  that  the  new  constitution  (that  ad- 
mirable plan,  so  worthy  of  the  wisdom  of  the  most  enlightened 
men)  will  have  been  adopted  by  the  States,  to  which  nothing 
more  was  wanted  to  assure  to  itself  a  perfect  consideration.  If 
it  has  not  been  possible,  sir,  to  discuss,  definitively  with  you, 
neither  the  principal  object  nor  its  accessories,  the  idea  of  elu- 
ding the  question,  or  of  retarding  the  decision,  had  not  the 
least  part  in  it.  I  have  already  had  the  honour  to  express  to 
you,  in  our  conversations,  that  your  want  of  plenipotentiary 
powers  from  Congress  was  a  natural  and  invincible  obstacle. 
It  would  be,  likewise,  contrary  to  the  established  custom  to 
change  the  seat  of  negociation,  which  has  not  been  broken  off, 
but  only  suspended,  thereby  to  transfer  it  from  Paris  to  Co- 
penhagen. 

"  I  have  only  one  more  favour  to  ask  of  you,  sir,  that  you 
would  be  the  interpreter  of  our  sentiments  in  regard  to  the 
United  States.  It  would  be  a  source  of  gratification  to  me  to 
think  that  what  I  have  said  to  you  on  this  subject  carries  with 
it  that  conviction  of  the  truth  which  it  merits.  We  desire  to 
form  with  them  connexions,  solid,  useful,  and  essential ;  we 
wish  to  establish  them  on  bases  natural  and  immoveable.  The 
momentary  clouds,  the  incertitudes,  which  the  misfortunes  of 
the  times  brought  with  them,  exist  no  longer.  We  should  no 
longer  recollect  it,  but  to  feel  in  a  more  lively  manner  the  hap- 
piness of  a  more  fortunate  period;  and  to  show  ourselves  more 
eager  to  prove  the  dispositions  most  proper  to  effect  an  union, 
and  to  procure  reciprocally  the  advantages  which  a  sincere  al- 
liance can  afford,  and  of  which  the  two  countries  are  susceptible. 
These  are  the  sentiments  which  I  can  promise  you,  sir,  on  our 
part,  and  we  flatter  ourselves  to  find  them  likewise  in  America  ; 
nothing,  then,  can  retard  the  conclusion  of  an  arrangement, 
which  I  am  happy  to  see  so  far  advanced. 


PAUL   JONES. 


387 


Paul  Jones  to  Count  Bernstorf. 

"  Copenhagen,  April  5,  1788. 

"  I  pray  your  excellency  to  inform  me  when  I  can  have  the  ho- 
nour to  wait  on  you,  to  receive  the  letter  you  have  been  kind 
enough  to  promise  to  write  me,  in  answer  to  the  Act  of  Con- 
gress of  the  25th  October  last.  As  you  have  told  me  that  my 
want  of  plenipotentiary  powers  to  terminate  ultimately  the  busi- 
ness now  on  the  carpet  between  this  court  and  the  United  States 
has  determined  you  to  authorize  the  Baron  de  Blome  to  ne- 
gociate  and  settle  the  same  with  Mr.  Jefferson  at  Paris,  and  to 
conclude  at  the  same  time  an  advantageous  treaty  of  commerce 
between  Denmark  and  the  United  States ;  my  business  here 
will  of  course  be  at  an  end  when  I  shall  have  received  your  let- 
ter, and  paid  you  my  thanks  in  person  for  the  very  polite  atten- 
tions with  which  you  have  honoured  me." 

Thus  was  this  negociation  brought  to  what  was  in  fact  its 
close.* 

Jones  had  received  the  following  letter  from  Baron  Krudner, 
shortly  after  his  arrival  at  Copenhagen. 

"  I  am  much  disappointed  at  not  meeting  you  at  court,  as  I 
had  promised  myself,  but  a  slight  indisposition  prevented  me 
from  going  abroad  ;  besides,  I  have  been  agreeably  occupied  in 
writing  letters.  My  sovereign  will  learn  with  pleasure  the  ac- 
quisition which  she  has  made  in  your  great  talents.  I  have  her 
commands  for  your  acceptance  of  the  grade  of  captain  com- 
mandant, t  with  the  rank  of  major  general,  in  her  service,  and 

*  Mr  Jefferson's  reply  to  the  communication  of  Bernstorf  at  this  time,  will  be  found 
in  his  "  Writings,"  Vol.  II.  p.  326. 

t  Tooke  says  in  his  Life  of  Catharine  II.  (Vol  III.  p.  184,  Am.  Ed.)  that  the  Prince 
de  Nassau-Siegen  was  the  only  admiral,  and  Mr.  SpiridofFthe  only  contre  admiral  in 
the  Russian  service,  towards  the  end  of  this  year,  1788.  He  shows  his  ignorance  as  to 
the  commission  Jones  held,  and  the  services  of  the  latter  in  the  Liman  campaign.  He 
says:  "  in  Russia  there  are  three  classes  of  captains.  Those  of  the  first  have  the  rank 
of  brigadier ;  those  of  the  second,  of  colonel ;  those  of  the  last,  of  lieutenant  colonel. 
They  all  wear  the  military  order  of  St.  George ;  but  are  only  knights  of  the  fourth 
claw." 


388  PAUL  JONES. 

that  you  should  proceed  as  soon  as  your  affairs  permit ;  the  in- 
tention of  her  imperial  majesty  being  to  give  you  a  command 
in  the  Black  Sea,  and  under  the  orders  of  Prince  Potemkin, 
from  the  opening  of  the  campaign.  The  immortal  glory  by 
which  you  have  illustrated  your  name  cannot  make  you  indif- 
ferent to  the  fresh  laurels  you  must  gather  in  the  new  career 
which  opens  to  you.  I  have  the  honour  of  being  on  this  occa- 
sion the  interpreter  of  those  sentiments  of  esteem  with  which 
for  a  long  period  your  brilliant  exploits  have  inspired  her  impe- 
rial majesty.  Under  a  sovereign  so  magnanimous,  in  pursuing 
glory  you  need  not  doubt  of  the  most  distinguished  rewards,  and 
that  every  advantage  of  fortune  will  await  you,"  &c.  &c. 

In  announcing  the  receipt  of  this  letter  to  Mr.  Jefferson,  Jones 
said :  "  Before  you  can  receive  this,  M.  de  Simolin  will  have  in- 
formed you  that  your  proposal  to  him,  and  his  application  on 
that  idea,  have  been  well  received.  The  matter  is  communi- 
cated to  me  here,  in  the  most  flattering  terms,  by  a  letter  I  have 
received  from  his  excellency  the  Baron  de  Krudner.  There 
seems,  however,  to  remain  some  difficulty  respecting  the  Letter 
of  Monsieur  de  Simolin's  proposal,  though  it  is  accepted,  in 
substance,  with  an  appearance  of  great  satisfaction.  I  find  my- 
self under  the  necessity  of  setting  out  for  St.  Petersburgh 
through  Sweden  in  a  few  days,  instead  of  returning  first,  as  was 
my  wish  and  intention,  to  Paris.  I  hope  in  the  mean  time  to 
receive  a  satisfactory  answer,  which  I  shall  duly  communicate 
to  you." 

I  cannot  see  the  particular  discrepancy,  between  these  state- 
ments and  those  contained  in  the  Journal,  (which  will  present- 
ly be  introduced,)  which  seems  to  have  struck  the  writer  of  the 
Edinburgh  Life.  In  the  Journal  Jones  says,  that  on  the  first  sug- 
gestion of  the  matter,  he  did  not  feel  disposed  to  enter  into  a 
foreign  service.  But  he  very  soon  changed  his  mind. 

The  following  was  his  letter  to  Mr.  Jefferson,  announcing 
the  termination  of  his  business  at  the  Danish  court.  It  may 
be  considered  as  apologetical  for  the  step  he  was  about  taking, 
and  must  not  be  omitted. 


PAUL  JOKES.  389 

"  Copenhagen,  April  8, 1788. 
11  His  Excellency  THOMAS  JEFFERSON,  Esq. 

"  SIR — By  my  letters  to  the  Count  de  Bernstorf,  and  his  ex- 
cellency's answer,  you  see  that  my  business  here  is  at  an  end. 
If  I  have  not  finally  concluded  the  object  of  my  mission,  it  is 
neither  your  fault  nor  mine ;  the  powers  I  received  are  found 
insufficient,  and  you  could  not  act  otherwise  than  was  prescribed 
in  your  instructions.  Thus  it  frequently  happens,  that  good 
opportunities  are  lost  when  the  supreme  power  does  not  place 
a  sufficient  confidence  in  the  distant  operations  of  public  offi- 
cers, whether  civil  or  military.  I  have,  however,  the  melancholy 
satisfaction  to  reflect,  that  I  have  been  received  and  treated 
here  with  a  distinction  far  above  the  pretensions  of  my  public 
mission  ;  and  I  felicitate  myself  sincerely,  on  being,  at  my  own 
expense,  (and  even  at  the  peril  of  my  life,  for  my  sufferings, 
from  the  inclemency  of  the  weather,  and  my  want  of  proper 
means  to  guard  against  it  on  the  journey,  were  inexpressible; 
and  I  believe,  from  what  I  yet  feel,  will  continue  to  affect  my 
constitution,)  the  instrument  to  renew  tne  negociation  between 
this  country  and  the  United  States  ;  the  more  so,  as  the  honour 
is  now  reserved  for  you  to  display  your  great  abilities  and  in- 
tegrity by  the  completion  and  improvement  of  what  Dr.  Frank- 
lin had  wisely  begun.  I  have  done  then,  what  perhaps  no  other 
person  would  have  undertaken  under  the  same  circumstances ; 
and  while  I  have  the  consolation  to  hope  that  the  United  States 
will  derive  solid  advantages  from  my  journey  and  efforts  here, 
I  rest  perfectly  satisfied,  that  the  interests  of  the  brave  men  I 
commanded  will  experience  in  you  parental  attention,  and  that 
the  American  flag  can  lose  none  of  its  lustre,  but  the  contrary, 
while  its  honour  is  confided  to  you.  America  being  a  young 
nation  with  an  increasing  commerce,  which  will  naturally  pro- 
duce a  navy,  I  please  myself  with  the  hope,  that  in  the  treaty 
you  are  about  to  conclude  with  Denmark,  you  will  find  it  easy 
and  highly  advantageous  to  include  certain  articles  for  admit- 
ting America  into  the  armed  neutrality.  I  persuade  myself 
before-hand,  that  this  would  afford  pleasure  to  the  empress  of 


390  PAUL   JONES. 

Russia,  who  is  at  the  head  of  that  noble  and  humane  combina- 
tion ;  and  as  I  shall  now  set  out  immediately  for  St.  Petersburgh, 
I  will  mention  the  idea  to  her  imperial  majesty,  and  let  you 
know  her  answer. 

"  If  Congress  should  think  I  deserve  the  promotion  that  was 
proposed  when  I  was  last  in  America,  and  should  condescend  to 
confer  on  me  the  grade  of  rear  admiral,  from  the  day  I  took  the 
Serapis,  (23d  of  September,  1779,)  I  am  persuaded  it  would  be 
very  agreeable  to  the  empress,  who  now  deigns  to  offer  me  an 
equal  rank  in  her  service,  although  I  never  yet  had  the  honour 
to  draw  my  sword  in  her  cause,  nor  to  do  any  other  act  that 
could  directly  merit  her  imperial  benevolence.  While  I  express, 
in  the  warm  effusion  of  a  grateful  heart,  the  deep  sense  I  feel 
of  my  eternal  obligation  to  you,  as  the  author  of  the  honourable 
prospect  that  is  now  before  me,  I  must  rely  on  your  friendship 
to  justify  to  the  United  States  the  important  step  I  now  take, 
conformable  to  your  advice.  You  know  I  had  no  idea  of  this 
new  fortune  when  I  found  that  you  had  put  it  in  train,  before 
my  last  return  to  Paris  from  America.  I  have  not  forsaken  a 
country,  that  has  had  many  disinterested  and  difficult  proofs  of 
my  steady  affection  ;  and  I  can  never  renounce  the  glorious  title 
of  a  citizen  of  the  United  States  ! 

"  It  is  true  I  have  not  the  express  permission  of  the  sove- 
reignty, to  accept  the  offer  of  her  imperial  majesty  ;  yet  Ame- 
rica is  independent,  is  in  perfect  peace,  has  no  public  employ- 
ment for  my  military  talents ;  but  why  should  I  excuse  a  con- 
duct which  I  should  rather  hope,  would  meet  with  general  ap- 
probation ?  In  the  latter  part  of  the  year  \  782,  Congress  passed 
an  Act  for  my  embarkation  in  the  fleet  of  his  most  Christian  ma- 
jesty ;  and  when,  a  few  months  ago,  I  left  America  to  return  to 
Europe,  I  was  made  the  bearer  of  a  letter  to  his  most  Christian 
majesty,  requesting  me  to  be  permitted  to  embark  in  the  fleets 
of  evolution.  Why  did  Congress  pass  those  Acts  ?  To  facilitate 
my  improvement  in  the  art  of  conducting  fleets  and  military 
operations.  I  am  then,  conforming  myself  to  the  views  of  Con- 
gress :  but  the  roll  allotted  me,  is  infinitely  more  high  and 


PAUL   JONES.  391 

difficult  than  Congress  intended.  Instead  of  receiving  lessons 
from  able  masters,  in  the  theory  of  war,  I  am  called  to  imme- 
diate practice ;  where  I  must  command  in  chief,  conduct  the 
most  difficult  operations,  be  my  own  preceptor,  and  instruct 
others.  Congress  will  allow  me  some  merit  in  daring  to  en- 
counter such  multiplied  difficulties.  The  mark  I  mentioned  of 
the  approbation  of  that  honourable  body,  would  be  extremely 
flattering  to  me  in  the  career  I  am  now  to  pursue,  and  would 
stimulate  all  my  ambition  to  acquire  the  necessary  talents  to 
merit  that,  and  even  greater  favours,  at  a  future  day.  I  pray 
you,  sir,  to  explain  the  circumstances  of  my  situation,  and  be 
the  interpreter  of  my  sentiments  to  the  United  States  in  Con- 
gress. I  ask  for  nothing  ;  and  beg  leave  to  be  understood  only 
as  having  hinted,  what  is  natural  to  conceive,  that  the  mark 
of  approbation  I  mentioned,  could  not  fail  to  be  infinitely  ser- 
viceable to  my  views  and  success  in  the  country  where  I  am 
going. 

"  The  prince  royal  sent  me  a  messenger,  requesting  me  to 
come  to  his  apartment.  His  royal  highness  said  a  great  many 
civil  things  to  me,  told  me  the  king  thanked  me  for  my  atten- 
tion and  civil  behaviour  to  the  Danish  flag,  while  I  commanded 
in  the  European  seas  ;  and  that  his  majesty  wished  for  occa- 
sions to  testify  to  me  his  personal  esteem,  &c.  I  was  alone 
with  the  prince  half  an  hour.  I  am  with  perfect  esteem,  &c." 

The  hint  that  the  empress  would  be  pleased  with  his  receiv- 
ing the  honorary  rank  of  rear  admiral  from  his  own  govern- 
ment, was  drawn  forth  in  consequence  of  his  not  obtaining  it  in 
the  first  instance  from  Russia,  upon  which  he  had  calculated, 
and  meant,  indirectly,  to  insist.  In  reply  to  Baron  Krudner,  he 
said :  "  I  am  extremely  flattered  by  the  obliging  things  ex- 
pressed in  the  letter  your  excellency  has  done  me  the  honour 
to  write  me  yesterday.  The  very  favourable  sentiments  with 
which  my  zeal  for  the  cause  of  America,  rather  than  my  pro- 
fessional skill,  has  inspired  her  imperial  majesty,  fills  me  with 
an  irresistible  desire  to  merit  the  precious  opinion  with  which 


392  PAUL   JONES. 

her  majesty  deigns  to  honour  me.  Though  I  cannot  conceive 
the  reason  why  any  difficulty  should  be  made  to  my  being  ad- 
mitted into  the  marine  of  her  imperial  majesty  as  rear  admiral, 
a  rank  to  which  I  have  some  claim,  and  that  it  should  at  the 
same  time  be  proposed  to  give  me  the  grade  of  major  general, 
to  which  I  have  no  title,  it  is  not  my  intention  to  withdraw  from 
the  engagement  which  you  have  formed  in  my  name,  in  the 
letter  you  addressed  your  court  on  the  23d  current.  You  will 
be  convinced  by  the  papers  I  have  the  honour  to  submit  to  your 
inspection,  that  I  am  not  an  adventurer  in  search  of  fortune. 
You  will  discover,  I  presume,  that  my  talents  have  been  con- 
siderable ;  but  that,  loving  glory,  I  am  perhaps  too  much 
attached  to  honours,  though  personal  interest  is  an  idol  to 
which  I  have  never  bowed  the  knee.  The  unbounded  admira- 
tion and  profound  respect  which  I  have  long  felt  for  the  glorious 
character  of  her  imperial  majesty,  forbids  the  idea  that  a  sove- 
reign so  magnanimous  should  sanction  any  arrangement  that 
may  give  pain  at  the  outset  to  the  man  she  deigns  to  honour 
with  her  notice,  and  who  wishes  to  devote  himself  entirely  to 
her  service.  A  conjoined  command  is  hurtful,  and  often  fatal 
in  military  operations.  There  is  no  military  man  who  is  so  en- 
tirely master  of  his  passions  as  to  keep  free  of  jealousy  and  its 
consequences  on  such  occasions.  Being  an  entire  stranger,  I 
have  more  to  fear  from  a  joint  authority  than  any  officer  in  her 
majesty's  service.  But  I  cannot  conceive  that  her  majesty 
could  deem  it  expedient  to  divide  the  command  in  the  Black  Sea; 
and  if  the  direction  of  the  military  department  there  is  confided  to 
an  officer  of  sufficient  capacity  and  experience,  I  can  neither  desire 
to  interfere  with  his  command,  nor  promise,  with  a  detachment, 
which  could  not  fail  to  excite  his  jealousy,  to  contribute  much  to 
the  glory  of  her  majesty's  arms." 

Jones  had  particular  reasons  for  disliking  the  subordinate 
command  which  was  tendered  to  him.  The  Prince  of  Nassau- 
Siegen,  who  was  now  appointed  to  command  the  fleet  of  the 
empress  in  the  Black  Sea,  had,  as  will  be  recollected,  volun- 
teered to  accompany  him  in  the  secret  expedition  against  Eng- 


PAUL   JONES.  393 

iand  in  1779,  and  abandoned  his  purpose,  if  it  ever  really 
existed,  without  even  the  civility  of  an  apology.  He  took  no 
notice  of  Jones'  letters  on  the  occasion.  His  subsequent  naval 
services  had  been  attended  with  no  glory.  He  had  been  en- 
gaged in  the  attempt  made  by  the  French  on  the  Island  of  Jer- 
sey, which  failed  altogether,  and  in  the  equally  unsuccessful 
attack  of  Gibraltar  by  the  French  and  Spanish  forces.  Jones 
had  a  poor  opinion  of  his  knowledge  as  a  naval  commander,  or 
indeed  of  his  courage.  Such  was  the  rival,  however,  with 
whom  he  was  now  to  be  associated. 

At  the  court  of  Denmark,  which  he  was  now  leaving,  he  had 
unquestionably  been  received  with  great  distinction.  He  men- 
tions in  a  letter  to  the  Marquis  de  La  Fayette,  written  a  few 
months  afterwards,  that ';  Mr.  Elliott,  the  same  who  filched  Dr. 
Lee's  papers  at  Berlin,  was  furious  when  he  found  out  his 
business  at  Copenhagen.  *  *  *  *  Every  time,"  he  says,  "  that  I 
was  invited  to  sup  with  the  king,  Elliott  made  an  apology.  He 
shut  himself  up  for  more  than  a  month,  and  then  left  town.  This 
occasioned  much  laughter  ;  and,  as  he  had  shunned  society  from 
the  time  of  my  arrival,  people  said  he  had  gone  off  in  a  fright."* 
What  seems  a  little  extraordinary,  this  court  shortly  after  Jones' 
departure,  sent  him  a  patent,  granting  him  1500  Danish  crowns 
annually,  "for  the  respect  he  had  shown  to  the  Danish  flag,  while 
he  had  commanded  in  the  north  seas.  It  was  undoubtedly 
offered  with  the  double  purpose  of  pleasing  the  empress  and 
propitiating  the  American  government.  Jones  did  not  under- 
stand the  propriety  of  this  gift  at  the  time,  and  makes  no  men- 


*  Mr.  Gilbert  Elliott,  the  English  minister  at  Copenhagen.  In  Tooke's  Life  of  the 
Empress  Catharine  II.  (p.  331,  Vol.  III.  Amer.  ed.)  he  says  that  this  functionary 
quitted  Copenhagen,  and  crossed  Sweden  in  great  haste,  to  summon  the  Danish  prince, 
Charles  of  Hesse,  to  raise  the  siege  of  Gotenburg,  which  he  was  carrying  on,  in 
pursuance  of  the  engagements  of  the  court  of  Copenhagen  with  Russia,  with  which 
power  Sweden  was  now  at  war;  and  threatened  the  vengeance  of  England  if  he  did 
not  evacuate  the  territory  without  delay.  This  cannot  be  identical  with  the  sudden 
departure  referred  to  by  Jones,  and  must  have  been  subsequent  to  his  leaving  St. 
Petersburgh. 

49 


PAUL   JONES. 

tion  of  it  in  his  correspondence  with  his  American  friends  at 
that  period.  Three  years  after,  he  found  it  convenient  to  avail 
himself  of  it ;  but  he  then  found,  that  like  the  promises  in  rela- 
tion to  the  prize  money,  it  was  but  an  unmeaning  compliment. 

His  journey  to  the  capital  of  Russia  was  an  extraordinary 
one.  We  shall  give  his  own  account  of  it  in  his  journal.  He 
says  to  La  Fayette  :  "  The  empress  received  me  with  a  dis- 
tinction the  most  flattering  that  perhaps  any  stranger  can  boast 
of.  On  entering  into  the  Russian  service,  her  majesty  con- 
ferred on  me  immediately  the  grade  of  rear  admiral.  I  was 
detained  against  my  will  a  fortnight,  and  continually  feasted  at 
court,  and  in  the  first  society.  This  was  a  cruel  grief  to  the 
English,  and  I  own  that  their  vexation,  which  I  believe  was 
general  in  and  about  St.  Petersburgh,  gave  me  no  pain.  You 
would  be  charmed  with  Prince  Potemkin.  He  is  a  most  amiable 
man,  and  none  can  be  more  noble-minded.  For  the  empress, 
fame  has  never  yet  done  her  justice.  I  am  sure  that  no  stran- 
ger who  has  not  known  that  illustrious  character,  ever  conceived 
how  much  her  majesty  is  made  to  reign  over  a  great  empire, 
to  make  people  happy,  and  to  attach  grateful  and  susceptible 
minds.  Is  not  the  present  a  happy  moment  for  France  to  de- 
clare for  Russia  ?" 

Such  were  the  first  expressions  of  pleasure  and  exultation 
which  his  reception  at  this  brilliant  court,  and  immediate  ap- 
pointment drew  from  him.  It  is  a  very  long  inference  and  an 
erroneous  one,  which  one  of  his  biographers  has  drawn  from 
them,  that  his  regard  for,  or  devotion  to  America  was  diminished. 
His  uniform  professions  are  entitled  to  full  credit,  that  he  gloried 
most  in  being  a  citizen  of  the  United  States ;  while  he  would 
never  be  engaged  in  hostile  operations  against  France.  And 
the  letter  to  which  we  are  referring,  to  La  Fayette,  is  devoted 
principally  to  the  prospects  and  policy  of  his  adopted  country  ; 
the  advantage  she  would  derive  from  joining  in  the  armed  neu- 
trality, the  commerce  she  might  carry  on  with  Russia,  her  new 
constitution,  and  the  danger  he  apprehended,  in  common  with 


PAUL   JONES.  399 

Count  Bernstorf,  from  the  president  being  made  commander 
in  chief  of  the  army,  &c. 

He  was,  indeed,  in  full  vogue  at  St.  Petersburgh.*  Every 
attention  was  shown  to  him  by  the  French  minister  at  that 
court,  and  he  was  waited  upon  by  all  the  members  of  the  dif- 
ferent legations,  and  the  principal  Russian  nobles,  as  appears 
from  the  notes  preserved  among  his  papers.  The  jealousy  of 
the  English  officers  was  indeed  great,  and  openly  expressed, 
as  is  mentioned  in  the  subjoined  note  ;  but  it  did  not  affect 
his  immediate  and  triumphant  elevation  to  the  rank  of  contre- 
amiral.  Tooke,  in  his  life  of  Catharine  II. t  speaking  of  him 
with  all  his  national  prejudice,  as  an  "  English  pirate  and 
renegado,"  says  that,  "  not  meeting  with  the  consideration  he 
expected  in  America,  he  made  a  tender  of  his  services  to  the 
court  of  St.  Petersburgh,  &c.  that  the  British  officers,  appli- 
cants for  employment,  went  in  a  body,  to  the  amount  of  near 
thirty,  to  lay  down  their  commissions ;  declaring  it  was  impos- 
sible to  serve  under  him,  or  to  act  with  him  in  any  measure 
or  capacity."  All  this,  however,  did  not  move  the  empress ; 
and  Tooke,  if  he  knew  any  thing  about  them,  does  not  make 
any  mention  of  the  services  of  Jones  in  the  campaign  of 
Liman  ;  an  omission  which  tends  to  throw  discredit  on  many  of 
his  other  statements. 


*  The  following  is  an  extract  of  a  letter  from  St.  Petersburgh,  which  appeared  at 
this  time  in  an  Edinburgh  paper. 

"  Paul  Jones  arrived  here  a  few  days  ago.  He  was  presented  to  the  sovereign  by  the 
French  ambassador,  and  immediately  promoted  to  the  rank  of  admiral.  He  is  to  set 
out  soon  to  take  the  command  of  a  squadron  in  the  Black  Sea.  I  had  the  satisfaction 
to  see  this  honest  man  while  he  was  examining  one  of  our  dock  yards.  He  is  a  well 
made  man  of  a  middle  size ;  he  wears  a  French  uniform  with  the  cross  of  St.  Louis 
and  a  Danish  order,  which  be  received  at  Copenhagen,  where  he  had  the  honour  to 
dine  with  the  king ;  he  has  also  received  since  he  came  here,  one  of  the  first  orders  of 
merit  in  this  country,  so  that  it  is  to  be  feared  they  will  spoil  him  by  making  too  much 
of  him.  The  English  officers  in  this  service  have  presented  a  memorial  to  Admiral 
Greig  refusing  to  serve  with  Jones,  and  threatening  to  throw  up  their  commissions. 
Whether  they  will  stand  to  their  text,  it  is  difficult  to  say,  but  they  have  acted  very 
spiritedly  so  far. 

t  Vol.  III.  p.  321.  Am.  £d. 


396  PAUL   JONES. 

In  a  letter  written  to  Jones  at  this  time  by  Mr.  Framery, 
secretary  of  legation  at  Copenhagen,  we  find  the  following 
passages. 

"  It  is  to  be  believed  you  are  yet  at  St.  Petersburgh.  I  will 
learn  with  increased  gratification,  your  arrival  in  this  capital,  as 
reports  are  in  circulation  here  that  you  have  perished  in  a  storm, 
in  the  Gulf  of  Finland,  but  as  the  relation  of  this  pretended  mis- 
fortune changes  every  day,  I  am  still  persuaded  that  it  exists 
only  in  the  mouths  of  evil  disposed  persons,  who  first  forged  and 
spread  the  account.  My  good  wishes  accompany  you  in  every 
part  of  the  world,  animated  by  the  remembrance  of  the  friend- 
ship you  expressed  for  me  when  at  Copenhagen.  The  Baron 
de  la  Houze  to  whom  I  mentioned  that  I  was  about  to  write  to 
you,  has  charged  me  to  renew  to  you  the  assurance  of  the  sen- 
timents of  esteem  and  real  attachment  with  which  you  have 
inspired  him.  He  is  so  far  from  giving  credence  to  the  report 
which  I  have  mentioned,  that  he  awaits  by  the  arrival  of  every 
courier,  the  letter  which  you  promised  to  write  him,  as  soon  as 
you  had  reached  your  port  of  destination." 

Jones  received  before  his  departure  from  St.  Petersburgh, 
the  following  letter  and  enclosure  from  the  empress. 

From  the  Empress  Catharine  to  Rear  Admiral  Paul  Jones. 

"  SIR, 

"  A  courier  from  Paris  has  just  brought  from  my  envoy  in 
France,  M.  de  Simolin,  the  enclosed  letter  to  Count  Besborod- 
ko.*  As  I  believe  that  this  letter  may  help  to  confirm  to  you 
what  I  have  already  told  you  verbally,  I  have  sent  it,  and  beg 
you  to  return  it,  as  I  have  not  even  made  a  copy  be  taken,  so 
anxious  am  I  that  you  should  see  it.  I  hope  that  it  will  efface 
all  doubts  from  your  mind,  and  prove  to  you  that  you  are  to  be 
connected  only  with  those  who  are  most  favourably  disposed 
towards  you.  I  have  no  doubt  but  that  on  your  side  you  will 


*  Russian  Minister  for  the  Home  Department. 


PAUL   JONES.  397 

fully  justify  the  opinion  which  we  have  formed  of  you,  and 
apply  yourself  with  zeal  to  support  the  reputation,  and  the 
name  you  have  acquired  for  valour  and  skill  on  the  element  in 
which  you  are  to  serve. 

"  Adieu,  I  wish  you  happiness  and  health, 

"  CATHARINE." 

Extract  of  the  Letter  from  M.  de  Simolin  to  Count  de  Besborodko, 
enclosed  in  the  above. 

"  The  letter  with  which  your  excellency  favoured  me  on  the 
16th  February,  was  delivered  by  Mr.  Poliranoff.  By  it  I  was 
informed  of  the  resolution  of  her  imperial  majesty,  on  the  subject 
of  the  engagement  with  the  Chevalier  Paul  Jones  ;  and  the 
same  day  Lieutenant  Colonel  de  Baner,  who  was  despatched 
from  St.  Elizabeth  by  Prince  Potemkin  on  the  9th  of  March, 
brought  me  two  letters,  the  subject  of  one  of  which  was  the  said 
Chevalier  Jones,  whom  he  requested  me  to  induce  to  repair  to 
his  head-quarters  as  quickly  as  possible,  that  he  might  employ 
his  talents  at  the  opening  of  the  campaign  ;  and  to  assure  him 
that  in  entering  the  service,  he,  (Potemkin,)  would  do  all  that 
depended  on  him  to  make  his  situation  pleasant  and  advanta- 
geous, arfd  ceriainly  procure  for  him  occasions  in  which  he 
might  display  his  skill  and  valour."* 

The  following  is  a  translation  of  part  of  a  letter,  written  to 
Count  Segur,  on  Jones'  arrival  at  St.  Elizabeth :  "  I  was  re- 
ceived with  much  cordiality  by  Prince  Potemkin,  and  have  re- 
ceived very  great  attentions  from  every  body  during  the  day  and 
two  nights  which  I  have  spent  here.  I  find  the  prince  a  very 
amiable  man.  I  am  much  pleased  with  him,  and  greatly  desire 
to  merit  his  regard.  The  Prince  de  Ligne  was  absent ;  but 
M.  le  Chevalier  and  Brigadier  Ribas  has  undertaken  to  attend 
to  the  delivery  of  all  the  letters  of  which  I  was  the  bearer.  A 
thousand  compliments,  I  pray  you,  to  the  Grand  Ecuyer,  to  ma- 

*  "  Has  he  kept  his  word  ?"  is  the  commentary  made  in  the  margin  of  this  lettes 
at  a  absequeut  period. 


398  PAUL   JONES. 

dame,  to  the  fair  Countess  of  Salloub,  the  charming  Marie,  and 
all  the  amiable  ladies  whom  I  had  the  honour  of  seeing  at  St. 
Petersburgh.  The  prince  has  told  me  that  his  charming  niece 
wf.uld  visit  these  coasts  before  going  to  Italy.  I  should  be  de- 
lighted to  see  her.  She  is  a  very  interesting  person. 

"  I  shall  write  to  the  empress,  who  has  addressed  to  me  a  let- 
ter full  of  goodness,  but  I  shall  never  be  able  to  express  how 
much  greater  I  find  her  than  fame  reports.  With  the  charac- 
ter of  a  very  great  man,  she  will  be  always  adored  as  the  mosl 
amiable  and  captivating  of  the  fair  sex. 

"  As  to  yourself,  my  dear  count,  you  have  treated  me  with  a 
kindness  and  friendship  so  precious  to  my  heart,  that  T  am  sure 
you  will  render  justice  to  the  sentiments  which  your  conduct  to- 
wards me  must  produce  in  a  soul  of  sensibility,  which  has  loved 
you  for  a  long  time  past.  I  therefore  address  to  you  no  com- 
pliments, nor  to  M.  de  Genet,  whose  father  was  one  of  the  men 
for  whom  I  had  the  greatest  attachment. 

"  I  shall  write  to  General  de  Momonoff,  who  is  a  very  agree- 
able man,  and  whose  regard  I  desire  to  merit.  After  having 
had  a  Te  Deum  sung  to-day,  we  have  drunk  her  majesty's 
health  in  the  good  wine  of  which  you  made  me  a  present." 

War  had  been  impending  between  Russia  and  the  Porte,  since 
the  disturbances  in  the  Crimea,  in  1777,  occasioned  by  the  elec- 
tion of  a  Khan,  in  which  the  former  interfered  to  support  one  of 
the  candidates,  with  the  ultimate  view  of  dispossessing  him  en- 
tirely. The  empress,  encouraged  by  her  eccentric  and  over- 
bearing favourite  and  general,  Potemkin,  in  the  ambitious  desire 
of  being  crowned  at  Constantinople,  never  lost  sight  of  this  in- 
tention. The  foundations  of  the  city  of  Cherson  were  only  laid 
in  1783,  and  in  a  very  short  time  it  counted  40,000  inhabitants, 
and  ships  of  war  were  launched  from  its  yards.  This  advantage 
increased  the  cupidity  of  the  Autocrat,  and  the  invasion  of  the 
Crimea  was  determined  upon,  as  a  necessary  preliminary  to 
operations  against  Turkey.  A  pretext  was  soon  found,  in  the 
dissentions  between  the  Tartar  princes,  and  the  usurpation  took 


PAUL   JONES.  399 

place  effectually,  though  the  Khan  was  left  for  a  short  time 
with  nominal  authority.  At  the  same  time  Potemkin  and  Su- 
vorrof  subdued  and  received  the  homage  of  the  tribes  of  the 
Kuban,  and  the  extensive  wilds  more  remote.  A  manifesto 
was  published  to  justify  these  unprovoked  acts,  and  the  annex- 
ation of  those  districts  to  the  empire.  The  Porte  replied  in  an 
able  answer,  but  did  not  yet  appeal  to  arms  ;  which  was  what 
the  empress  wished  for.  England  urged  the  divan  to  the  mea- 
sure, but  the  influence  of  France  and  Austria,  and  oriental  in- 
dolence, prevailed  against  the  advice.  By  a  new  treaty  the 
sovereignty  of  Russia  over  the  Crimea,  and  great  part  of  Ku- 
ban, with  the  right  of  the  dominion  of  the  Euxine,  and  to  the 
passage  of  the  Dardanelles,  was  conceded  to  Russia.  New 
usurpations  followed  immediately  on  the  part  of  the  latter.  In 
1786,  Catharine  projected  a  magnificent  progress  to  the  Euxine, 
where,  after  having  solemnly  taken  the  sceptre  of  the  Khan,  it 
was  her  intention  to  conduct  her  young  grandson,  Constantine. 
to  the  gates  of  that  city,  with  reference  to  whose  contemplated 
destiny  he  had  been  named.  His  sickness  prevented  this  part 
of  the  project  from  being  executed  ;  and  the  progress,  though 
splendid,  was  not  conducted  on  so  grand  a  scale  as  had  been  at 
first  proposed.  She  was  attended  by  the  existing  favourite 
Momonoff,  the  Grand  Ecuyer  Narichkin,  others  of  the  Russian 
nobility  and  courtiers,  the  ambassadors  of  France  and  Austria, 
and  the  English  envoy.  She  was  joined  at  Kieff  by  Prince 
Potemkin,  and  the  Prince  Nassau-Siegen,  who  seems  to  have 
won  favour  for  himself  on  the  occasion.  In  the  beginning  of 
the  spring  she  embarked  with  a  numerous  and  brilliant  retinue, 
the  king  of  Poland  being  in  company,  and  the  emperor  of 
Austria  joining  her  on  the  route.  The  divan  were  uneasy  at 
this  visitation  ;  and  while  the  empress  was  at  Cherson,  four  of 
their  ships  of  the  line  anchored  at  the  mouth  of  the  Dnieper, 
though  not  with  actual  hostile  intentions.  The  empress  re- 
turned, and  Potemkin,  who  longed  for  the  grand  ribbon  of  the 
order  of  St.  George,  had  not  yet  effected  his  object  of  forcing 
the  Turks  to  act  first  on  the  offensive.  No  means  were  left  un 


400  PAUL  JONES. 

tried.  The  consul  in  Moldavia  stirred  up  insurrections ;  the  Rus  • 
sian  ships  abused  their  privileges  conceded  by  the  Porte ;  a  cor- 
respondence was  formed  with  Egypt,  and  intrigues  were  carried 
on  with  the  Greeks  of  Smyrna.  The  troubles  in  Georgia  were 
fomented  by  the  protection  given  to  Prince  Heraclius.  These 
and  various  other  grievances  led  to  the  presentation  on  the  26th 
July,  1787,  of  a  memorial  from  the  grand  vizier,  and  reis  ef- 
fendi,  to  the  French  minister ;  to  which  an  immediate  answer 
was  requested.  The  ambassador  asked  for  time  to  consult 
his  court,  which  was  granted.  But  the  influence  of  Great 
Britain  now  predominated,  and  war  was  declared  before  any 
answer  was  received  from  Russia.  Eighty  thousand  men  were 
ordered  to  march  to  cover  Oczakow.  A  large  army  advanced 
to  the  Danube ;  and  a  squadron  of  16  ships  of  the  line,  8 
frigates,  and  several  gallies  entered  the  Euxine  under  the  com- 
mand of  the  capitan-pacha.  The  Greeks  were  disarmed,  and 
the  Tartars  invited  to  return  to  their  allegiance  to  the  grand 
seignior.  They  complied  with  the  call,  and  their  Shah  had  soon 
under  his  orders  an  army  of  40,000  men. 

This  news  was  received  with  joy  at  St.  Petersburgh.  A  fleet 
of  8  ships  of  the  line,  12  frigates,  and  near  200  chebeks  or  gun- 
boats was  equipped  in  the  Euxine,  and  two  squadrons  command- 
ed by  admirals  Kruse  and  Greig  were  in  readiness  at  Cronstadt 
to  sail  for  the  Mediterranean.  Joseph  II.  the  ally  of  the  em- 
press, sent  80,000  Austrians  on  their  march  to  Moldavia,  and 
the  empress  published  manifestos  to  assert  the  justice  of  her 
cause.  Hostile  operations  on  the  part  of  Sweden,  which  it  is 
unnecessary  here  to  dwell  upon,  gave  a  check  to  the  exultation 
at  St.  Petersburgh,  which  was  left  defenceless  ;  and  the  appear- 
ance of  the  Swedish  fleet  off  Cronstadt  occasioned  a  recall  of 
the  sailing  orders  given  to  the  Russian  admirals  there.  At  this 
period,  Tooke  says  that  the  remonstrance  of  the  English  officers 
occasioned  a  recall  of  the  appointment  of  Jones  to  a  command 
in  the  Cronstadt  fleet ;  for  which  assertion  there  is  no  authority 
whatever. 

It  has  been  thought  proper  to  introduce  the  Journal  of  Ad- 


PAUL    JONES.  401 

miral  Jones  by  the  foregoing  brief  account,  (from  the  history 
of  Catharine  II.)  of  previous  events,  and  of  the  circumstances 
attending  his  entering  into  the  Russian  service.  This  Journal 
was  prepared  by  himself,  and  arranged  with  the  accompanying 
documents  for  his  own  vindication  ;  but  was,  unwisely  perhaps, 
not  published  by  him  during  his  lifetime.  If  he  sometimes 
speaks  in  terms  of  bitterness  of  those  with  whom  he  acted,  it 
will  be  found  that  he  had  but  too  much  cause  to  complain  of 
them.  He  was  treated  with  caprice  ;  his  due  honours  were 
sought  to  be  wrested  from  him  ;  he  was  sent  back  from  the  fleet 
cavalierly,  and  he  was  foully  slandered.  Over  all  this  he 
triumphed  in  the  issue  completely ;  but  his  health  and  spirits 
were  irretrievably  affected  by  the  ignoble  and  ungenerous  per- 
secution. 

A  copy  of  this  Journal  handsomely  engrossed  in  the  French 
language,  followed  by  ninety-three  Pieces  Justificatives  is  before 
the  compiler.  Reference  will  be  made  to  the  latter,  where  it 
seems  necessary. 

AVANT-PROPOS  OF  THE  REAR  ADMIRAL. 

"  The  United  States  of  America  having  charged  me  with  a 
mission  of  a  political  nature  to  the  court  of  Denmark,  and 
having  at  the  same  time  furnished  me  with  a  letter  to  deliver 
personally  to  his  most  Christian  majesty,  Louis  XVI.  I  embark- 
ed at  New  York  on  the  llth  November,  1787,  in  an  American 
vessel  bound  for  Holland,  the  captain  of  which  agreed  to  land 
me  in  France. 

"  After  a  voyage  of  a  month,  I  landed  at  Dover,  in  England, 
not  being  able  to  get  ashore  in  France.  From  Dover  I  went  to 
London,  where  I  saw  the  minister  of  the  United  States.  I 
passed  some  days  with  my  friends  there,  and  went  to  Covent 
Garden  Theatre.  I  afterwards  set  out  for  Paris,  where  I  ar- 
rived on  the  20th  December. 

"  Mr.  Jefferson,  the  ambassador  of  the  United  States,  visited 
me  on  the  night  of  my  arrival,  and  informed  me  that  M.  de 

50 


402  PAUL   JONES. 

Simolin,  minister  plenipotentiary  of  her  imperial  majesty  of  ail 
the  Russias,  had  often  spoken  of  me  while  I  was  in  America, 
and  appeared  anxious  to  succeed  in  prevailing  on  me  to  go  to 
Russia,  to  command  the  fleet  against  the  Turks  in  the  Black 
Sea.  I  regarded  this  proposal  as  a  castle  in  the  air ;  and  as  I 
did  not  wish  for  any  employment  in  foreign  service,  I  avoided 
meeting  M.  de  Simolin,  for  whose  character  I  had,  at  the  same 
time,  the  highest  respect. 

"As  the  letter,  of  w-hich  I  was  the  bearer  to  the  king  of 
France,  concerned  myself  alone,  my  friends  advised  me  not  to 
seek  an  interview  with  his  majesty  before  my  return  from  Den- 
mark. In  that  letter  the  United  States  requested  his  majesty 
to  permit  me  to  embark  in  his  fleet  of  evolutions,  to  complete 
my  knowledge  of  naval  tactics,  and  of  military  and  maritime 
operations  upon  the  great  scale. 

"  Speaking  to  a  man  of  very  high  rank  at  Paris,  I  repeated 
to  him  what  had  been  communicated  to  me  by  Mr.  Jefferson. 
He  replied,  that  '  he  would  advise  me  to  go  to  Constantinople 
at  once  rather  than  enter  the  service  of  Russia.' 

"  On  the  1st  of  February,  1788,  at  the  moment  of  my  de- 
parture from  Paris,  I  received  a  note  from  Mr.  Littlepage, 
chamberlain  to  the  king  of  Poland,  earnestly  requesting  me  to 
breakfast  with  him  next  morning,  as  he  had  matters  of  the 
utmost  importance  to  communicate  to  me.  I  went  to  him  that 
same  night,  and  he  told  me  that  M.  de  Simolin  had  the  great- 
est desire  to  converse  with  me  before  my  departure,  and  that 
he  calculated  on  breakfasting  with  us  next  day. 

"  M.  de  Simolin  said  the  most  polite  and  obliging  things  to 
me ;  that,  having  known  me  well  by  reputation  whilst  he  was 
ambassador  in  England,  and  since  he  had  come  to  France,  he 
had  already  proposed  me  to  his  sovereign  as  commander  of  the 
fleet  in  the  Black  Sea,  &c.  and  that  he  expected  her  imperial 
majesty  would  make  me  proposals  in  consequence.  I  did  not 
yet  look  upon  the  affair  as  serious;  but  I  was  much  flattered 
with  the  politeness  of  M.  de  Simolin,  and  endeavouied  to  ex- 
press to  him  my  sense  of  it.  When  he  had  left  the  house,  Mr. 


PAUL   JONES.  403 

Littlepage  assured  me  that  he  had  written  to  his  court,  that 
4  if  her  imperial  majesty  confided  to  me  the  chief  command 
of  her  fleet  on  the  Black  Sea,  with  carte  blanche,  he  would  an- 
swer for  it  that  in  less  than  a  year  I  should  make  Constanti- 
nople tremble.' 

"  In  Denmark  I  put  in  train  a  treaty  between  that  power 
and  the  United  States  ;  but  it  was  interrupted  by  the  arrival  of 
a  courier  from  St.  Petersburgh,  despatched  express  by  the  em- 
press, to  invite  me  to  repair  to  her  court. 

"  Though  I  foresaw  many  difficulties*  in  the  way  of  my  en- 
tering the  service  of  Russia,  I  believed  that  I  could  not  avoid 
going  to  St.  Petersburgh,  to  thank  the  empress  for  the  favoura- 
ble opinion  she  had  conceived  of  me.  I  transferred  the  treaty 
going  forward  at  Copenhagen  to  Paris,  to  be  concluded  there, 
and  set  out  for  St.  Petersburgh  by  Sweden.  At  Stockholm  I 
staid  but  one  night,  to  see  Count  Rasoumorsky.  Want  of  time 
prevented  me  from  appearing  at  court. 

"  At  Gresholm  I  was  stopped  by  the  ice,  which  prevented  rne 
from  crossing  the  Gulf  of  Bothnia,  and  even  from  approaching 
the  first  of  the  isles  in  the  passage.  After  having  made  several 
unsuccessful  efforts  to  get  to  Finland  by  the  isles,  I  imagined 
that  it  might  be  practicable  to  effect  my  object  by  doubling  the 
ice  to  the  southward,  and  entering  the  Baltic  Sea. 

"  This  enterprise  was  very  daring,  and  had  never  before  been 
attempted;  but  by  the  north  the  roads  were  impracticable,  and, 
knowing  that  the  empress  expected  me  from  day  to  day,  I  could 
not  think  of  going  back  by  Elsineur. 

"  I  left  Gresholm  early  one  morning,  in  an  undecked  passage 
boat,  about  thirty  feet  in  length.  I  made  another  boat  follow, 


*  Two  letters  are  here  referred  to,  one  of  which  is  from  Baron  Krudner  to  Jones, 
informing  him  that  he  had  communicated  to  the  empress.  Jones'  acceptance  of  the 
grade  of  captain  commandant  with  the  rank  of  major  general  in  her  service.  It  is 
dated  March  22d.  The  other  is  Jones'  reply  on  the  following  day,  which  has  been 
inserted.  The  "  difficulties"  referred  to  are,  partly  that  he  thought  himself  entitled 
to  the  rank  of  rear  admiral,  but  chiefly  that  he  apprehended  inconvenience  and  dis- 
agreements from  a  joint  command 


404  PAUL   JONES. 

of  half  that  size.  This  last  was  for  dragging  over  the  cakes  of 
ice,  and  for  passing  from  one  to  another,  to  gain  the  coast  of 
Finland.  I  durst  not  make  my  project  known  to  the  boatmen, 
which  would  have  been  the  sure  means  of  deterring  them  from 
it.  After  endeavouring,  as  before,  to  gain  the  first  isle,  I  made 
them  steer  for  the  south,  and  we  kept  along  the  coast  of  Swe- 
den all  the  day,  finding  with  difficulty  room  enough  to  pass  be- 
tween the  ice  and  the  shore.  Towards  night,  being  almost 
opposite  Stockholm,  pistol  in  hand,  I  forced  the  boatmen  to  enter 
the  Baltic  Sea,  and  steer  to  the  east.  We  ran  towards  the  coast 
of  Finland.  All  night  the  wind  was  fair,  and  we  hoped  to  land 
next  day.  This  we  found  impossible.  The  ice  did  not  permit 
us  to  approach  the  shore,  which  we  only  saw  from  a  distance.  It 
was  impossible  to  regain  the  Swedish  side,  the  wind  being  strong 
and  directly  contrary.  I  had  no  other  course  to  adopt  but  to 
make  for  the  Gulf  of  Finland.  There  was  a  small  compass  in 
the  boat,  and  I  fixed  the  lamp  of  my  travelling  carriage  so  as  to 
throw  a  light  on  it. 

"  On  the  second  night  we  lost  the  small  boat,  which  was  sunk ; 
but  the  men  saved  themselves  in  the  large  one,  which  with  diffi- 
culty escaped  the  same  fate.  At  the  end  of  four  days  we  landed 
at  Reval,  in  Livonia,  which  was  regarded  as  a  kind  of  miracle. 
Having  satisfied  the  boatmen  for  their  services  and  their  loss,  I 
gave  them  a  good  pilot,  with  the  provisions  necessary  for  making 
their  homeward  voyage,  when  the  weather  should  become  more 
favourable. 

"  I  arrived  at  St.  Petersburg!!  in  the  evening  on  the  23d  of 
April,  old  style,  and  on  the  25th  had  my  first  audience  of  the 
empress.  Her  majesty  gave  me  so  flattering  a  reception,  and 
up  to  the  period  of  my  departure  treated  me  with  so  much  dis- 
tinction, that  I  was  entirely  captivated,  and  put  myself  into  her 
hands  without  making  any  stipulation  for  my  personal  advan- 
tage. I  demanded  but  one  favour,  '  that  she  would  never  con- 
demn  without  hearing  me.' 

"  On  the  7th  May,  I  set  out  from  the  imperial  palace  of  Sacs 
cosello  carrying  with  me  a  letter  from  her  majesty  to  his  high- 


PAUL  JONES.  405 

ness  the  Prince  Marshal  Potemkin  at  St.  Elizabeth,  where  I 
arrived  on  19th.  The  prince  marshal  received  me  with  much 
kindness,  and  destined  me  the  command  of  the  fleet  of  Sevas- 
tapol  against  the  capitan  pacha,  who,  he  supposed,  intended  to 
make  descents  in  the  Crimea.  His  highness  was  mistaken  in 
this,  and  the  next  day  he  received  information  that  the  capital! 
pacha  was  at  anchor  within  Kinbourn,  having  corne  to  succour 
Oczakow  with  a  hundred  and  twenty  armed  vessels  and  other 
armed  craft. 

"  The  prince  marshal  then  requested  me  to  assume  com- 
mand of  the  naval  force  stationed  in  the  Liman,  (which  is  at 
the  embouchure  of  the  Dnieper,)  to  act  against  the  capitan 
pacha  till  Oczakow  should  fall.  I  considered  this  change  as  a 
mark  of  confidence  flattering  to  myself;  and  having  received  my 
orders,  I  set  out  on  the  same  day  for  Cherson,  in  company  with 
the  Chevalier  de  Ribas,  Brigadier  du  Jour  of  the  prince  mar- 
shal. He  was  ordered  to  make  all  the  arrangements  necessary 
to  place  me  in  command.  At  parting,  the  prince  marshal  pro- 
mised me  '  to  bring  forward  his  troops  without  loss  of  time,  to 
co-operate  with  the  maritime  force  he  had  intrusted  to  my  com- 
mand ;'  and  on  the  journey  M.  de  Ribas  told  me,  '  that  all  the 
force  of  the  Liman,  comprehending  that  of  the  prince  of  Nas- 
sau, would  be  under  my  orders.' 

"  I  spent  but  one  evening  and  night  at  Cherson.  But  even 
this  short  period  was  enough  to  show  that  I  had  entered  on  a 
critical  and  disagreeable  service.  Rear  Admiral  Mordwinoff, 
chief  of  the  admiralty,  did  not  affect  to  disguise  his  displeasure 
at  my  arrival  ;  and  though  he  had  orders  from  the  prince  mar- 
shall  to  communicate  to  me  all  the  details  concerning  the  force 
in  the  Liman,  and  to  put  me  in  possession  of  the  silk  flag  be- 
longing to  my  rank  as  rear  admiral,  he  gave  himself  not  the 
least  trouble  to  comply  therewith. 

"  We  set  out  early  next  morning  for  Glouboca,  the  armament 
of  the  Liman  being  at  anchor  very  near  that  place,  in  the  roads 
of  Schiroque,  between  the  bar  of  the  Dnieper  and  the  embou- 
chure of  the  river  Bo°r.  We  went  on  board  the  Wolodimer 


406  PAUL   JONES. 

before  mid-day,  where  we  found  that  Brigadier  Alexiano  had 
assembled  all  the  commanders,  to  draw  them  into  a  cabal  against 
my  authority.  I  may  mention  here,  that  this  man  was  a  Greek 
by  birth,  as  ignorant  of  seamanship  as  of  military  affairs  ;  who, 
under  an  exterior  and  manners  the  most  gross,  concealed  infi- 
nite cunning;  and,  by  an  impertinent  roughness  of  discourse,  had 
the  address  to  pass  for  a  blunt  honest  man.  Though  a  subject 
of  Turkey,  it  was  alleged  that  he  made  war  with  the  Mussul- 
mans by  attacking  their  commerce  in  the  Archipelago  on  his 
own  authority,  and  that  he  had  followed  this  means  of  enriching 
himself  up  to  the  period  that  Count  D'Orloff  arrived  with  the 
Russian  fleet.  Though  I  do  not  affirm  the  fact,  several  per- 
sons of  credit  have  assured  me  that  there  are  often  pirates  who 
infest  the  coast,  and  the  isles  between  Constantinople  and  Egypt, 
who  attack  the  commerce  of  all  nations,  and  run  down  the  ves- 
sels after  having  seized  the  cargoes  and  cut  the  throats  of  the 
crews.  Alexiano  had  been  employed  by  Count  D'Orloff.  He 
had  reached  the  grade  of  captain  de  haut  bord,  with  the  rank 
of  brigadier.  He  felt  his  spirits  ruffled  in  the  first  instance,  and 
afterwards  made  great  merit  with  the  prince  marshal,  of  the 
sacrifice  which  he  affected  to  make  in  serving  under  me.  He 
said  that,  if  he  withdrew,  all  the  other  officers  would  do  the 
same.  The  prince  marshal  sent  presents  to  his  wife,  and  wrote 
him  kindly,  persuading  him  to  remain  in  the  service.  All  the 
objections  he  made  were  bravadoes,  to  enable  himself  to  make 
something  out  of  the  difficulty  ;  for,  from  what  followed,  I  know 
that,  had  he  left  the  service,  it  would  have  been  alone,  and  that 
no  one  would  have  regretted  his  absence. 

"  To  give  time  to  those  angry  spirits  to  become  calm,  and  to 
be  able  to  decide  on  the  part  I  should  take,  I  proposed  to  Briga- 
dier de  Ribas,  that  we  should  together  make  a  journey  to  Kin- 
bourn,  to  see  the  entrance  of  Dnieper  and  reconnoitre  the  posi- 
tion and  strength  of  the  Turkish  fleet  and  flotilla.  At  my 
return  all  the  officers  appeared  contented,  and  I  hoisted  rny 
flag  on  board  the  Wolodimer  on  the  26th  of  May,  1788. 

"The  prince  of  Nassau-Siegen,  whom  I  had  known  slightly 


PAUL   JONES.  407 

at  Paris,  told  me,  '  that  if  we  gained  any  advantage  over  the 
Turks,  it  was  necessary  to  exaggerate  it  to  the  utmost ;  and 
that  this  was  the  counsel  the  Chevelier  de  Ribas  had  given  him.' 
I  replied,  '  that  I  never  had  adopted  that  method  of  making 
myself  of  consequence.' ' 

Extract  of  a  Journal  of  the  Campaign  in  the  LAman,  in  1788. 

"  At  the  opening  of  this  campaign  the  squadron  of  Cherson 
was  obliged  to  remain  for  two  days  in  the  road  of  Schiroque,  till 
the  troops  should  embark  which  were  to  form  part  of  the  crew. 
The  prince  of  Nassau,*  who  had  been  appointed  commander  of 
the  flotilla,  and  who  had  by  this  time  received  on  board  the 
troops  intended  for  him,  durst  not  venture  to  advance  four  or 
five  verstes  to  take  station  opposite  to  the  Bog,  without  being 
escorted  by  three  frigates.  The  prince  of  Nassau  made  so  many 
objections  to  the  danger  of  his  situation,  1  that  on  the  28th  of 


+  In  a  letter  from  Potemkin,  dated  at  St.  Elizabeth,  on  the  30th  May,  (all  the  dates 
quoted  are  old  style,)  he  expresses  the  greatest  pleasure  at  learning  from  Chevalier 
Ribas,  that  harmony  was  established  between  the  rear  admiral  and  the  prince.  "  I 
regard,"  he  said,  "  this  concert,  as  the  basis  of  all  the  good  services  which  your  talents 
and  acknowledged  courage  enable  you  both  to  render  to  my  country."  A  few  days 
proved  how  unstable  this  basis  was. 

f  Three  notes  from  Nassau  are  inserted  in  the  Pieces  Justificatives ;  dated  succes- 
sively, on  the  28th,  29th,  and  30th  of  this  month,  (May.)  In  the  first,  he  says,  he  shall 
see  the  rear  admiral  ("  my  dear  general,"  he  calls  him)  arrive,  with  great  pleasure. 
He  says,  that  the  strong  gale  that  harrassed  the  fleet  was  lucky  for  them,  as  it  prevent- 
ed the  Turks  from  attacking  him ;  in  which  case  he  would  have  been  compelled  to 
retreat.  "  I  reckon  upon  you,  at  farthest,  during  the  course  of  the  day.  You  know, 
my  dear  general,  my  esteem  and  friendship.  It  will  end  only  with  my  life."  In  the 
second,  he  begs,  that  if  Jones  could  not  join  him,  he  would  send  two  hundred  grena- 
diers, which  were  under  his  (Nassau's)  command ;  as  it  would  be  better  that  the  troops 
should  not  be  mixed.  The  bad  grammar  and  worse  spelling  of  the  prince  is  scrupu- 
lously adhered  to  in  those  transcripts.  The  originals  are  before  me ;  the  last  is  least  in- 
correct, and  as  it  is  brief,  it  may  be  amusing.  "  Je  vous  envois  mon  cher  general,  les 
deux  reponces  de  Mr.  de  Souvorrow,  qu'il  m'a  envoyts  ouverts.  Je  voua  prie  de  me 
mander  ce  quo  vous  feris,  etant  decide,  puisque  j'eu  ai  la  liberte,  a  ne  marcher  que 
lorsque  vous  me  prottgeois."  In  his  hand  writing,  also,  the  prince  was  a  rival  of 
Buonaparte. 


408  PAUL   JONES. 

May,  the  day  following,  Rear  Admiral  Chevalier  Paul  Jones, 
commander  of  the  squadron,  reinforced  him  with  a  fourth 
frigate. 

"  On  the  29th,  the  troops  being  all  on  board,  the  squadron 
advanced,  and  got  beyond  the  flotilla,  which  lay  scattered  about 
at  anchor  without  any  observance  of  order.  The  squadron 
drew  up  opposite  the  first  village,  to  the  west  of  the  Bog,  in  an 
obtuse  angle,  and  thus  commanded,  by  a  cross  fire,  the  only 
passage  of  the  Liman.  This  lies  between  two  sand  banks, 
through  which  the  Turks  must  advance  with  their  heavy  ves- 
sels. By  this  position  the  rear  admiral  covered  Cherson,  and 
the  country  on  both  banks  of  the  Liman,  made  good  the  free 
passage  of  the  Bog  to  the  army  of  the  prince  marshal,  and  held 
the  Turks  in  check  in  any  attempt  they  might  make  against 
Kinbourn. 

"  The  prince  of  Nassau  at  this  time  talked  a  great  deal  of 
projects  of  descents,  surprises,  and  attacks,  but  without  any 
rational  plan. 

"  A  battery  having  been  raised  upon  the  point  of  Stanislaus, 
the  prince  of  Nassau  could  not  help  exclaiming,  '  that  he  was 
delighted  with  it,  as  in  case  of  necessity  he  might  there  find 
shelter.'  He  was  not  ignorant  that  the  rear  admiral  could  not 
have  retreated,  as  several  of  his  vessels  were  already  within  a 
few  inches  of  getting  aground.  The  rear  admiral  was  aware 
that  the  Turks,  having  a  very  superior  force,  would  not  give  any 
opportunity  of  attacking  them  ;  and  that  it  was  therefore*  neces- 
sary to  maintain  the  strong  position  he  had  taken,  till  the 
the  arrival  of  Prince  Potemkin.  in  order  to  advance  in  concert, 
and  combine  their  operations  with  those  of  the  land  forces. 

"  In  the  meanwhile  General  Suvorrof,  commandant  of  Kin- 
bourn,  made  the  rear  admiral  responsible  for  the  safety  of  that 
place  ;*  while  Brigadier  Alexiano  and  the  prince  of  Nassau  or 


*  On  the  31st,  there  is  a  letter  from  Jones  to  Ribas,  informing  him  that  the  Prince 
de  Nassau  asserted  that  he  had  carte  blanche.  "  I  was  surprised,"  he  says,  "  at  hear- 
ing him  talk  this  morning  of  advancing.  He  held  a  different  language  one  or  two  days 


PAUL   JONES.  409 

their  part,  did  all  that  was  possible  to  make  him  distrustful  of 
the  means  which  he  possessed  for  attack  or  defence.  They 
alleged,  that  the  vessels  forming  the  flotilla,  having  been  con- 
structed merely  to  convey  the  carriages  of  the  empress  in  her 
late  progress,  might  be  expected,  at  the  first  attack,  to  sink 
under  the  enormous  weight  of  the  guns. 

"  The  squadron  had  a  formidable  appearance,  but  little  real 
strength.  The  Wolodimer  and  the  Alexander  were  but  half 
armed ;  and  both  vessels  were  already  within  a  few  inches  of 
touching  the  bottom,  so  shallow  is  the  Liman  for  vessels  of  war. 
In  this  most  critical  situation,  having  no  orders  from  his  high- 
ness the  prince  marshal  for  his  guidance,  and  knowing  nothing 
of  his  intentions,  nor  of  the  actual  position  of  his  army,  the  rear 
admiral  resolved  on  assembling  a  council  of  war,  in  conformity 
to  the  ordinance  of  Peter  the  Great.  The  council  he  opened 
by  a  speech  suited  to  the  occasion,  the  main  object  of  which  was 
to  show  the  necessity  of  a  perfect  understanding  between  the 


since,  when  he  wanted  to  retreat,  under  a  false  alarm.  Should  we  receive  the  least 
check,  it  may  derange  or  render  impracticable  the  attack  on  Oczakow.  Kinbourn  has 
not  been  attacked,  and  cannot,  in  my  opinion,  be  in  any  danger,  if  the  army  of  Prince 
Potemkin  has  passed  the  Bog,  which,  after  his  highness'  promise,  I  have  a  right  to 
suppose.  The  Turks  will  find  work  enough  on  the  other  side."  On  the  same  day, 
there  is  a  note  from  Suvorrof  to  Jones,  throwing  upon  him  the  responsibility  spoken 
of  in  the  text.  It  is  rather  characteristic.  "  Your  excellency — I  have  not  received 
the  copy  of  his  highness  Prince  Potemkin's  orders  for  you.  You  will  see  my  whole 
opinion  in  a  letter  to  the  prince  of  Nassau,  as  you  are  acting  with  him.  You  are  well 
enough,  with  the  two  squadrons,  but  you  know  well  that,  under  the  circumstances,  the 
Radical  of  the  operations  regards  Kinbourn,  a  principal,  efficacious,  and  unequivocal 
point,  and  one  on  which  all  our  cares  and  pains  should  be  directed.  It  is  plausible 
enough  to  wait  for  the  approach  of  the  land  army.  In  the  meanwhile,  7  cannot 
answer  for  results.  Enough  said,  for  a  soldier  who  has  never  been  a  seaman.  Ever 
your  excellency's  humble  and  obedient  servant,  Alexandre  Suvorrof."  Jones  says  in 
a  note :  "  I  beg  the  general's  pardon ;  but  the  Radical  regarded  Cherson ;  and  the 
capitan  pacha  had  too  much  sense  not  to  prefer  it  to  such  a  place  as  Kinbourn,  which 
he  could  easily  have  taken  afterwards."  In  communicating  copies  of  SWorrof's 
letters  to  the  Chevalier  Ribas,  for  the  inspection  of  Potemkin,  Jones  begged  for  ex- 
plicit orders,  "  in  order  that  there  might  be  no  mistake  among  so  many  commanders ; 
each  of  whom  believed  himself  independent  of  the  others ;  which  might  lead  to 
mischievous  consequence?  ' 

51 


410  PAUL   JONES. 

squadron  and  the  flotilla  ;  and  that,  uniting  heart  and  hand, 
forgetting  all  personal  considerations,  they  should  determine  to 
conquer,  as  the  true  glory  of  a  patriot  was  to  be  useful  to  his 
country.* 

"He  proposed  to  them  nine  questions.  It  was  decided,  to  act 
together,  mingle  together,  in  one  and  the  same  order  of  battle ; 
that  if  the  wind  should  be  from  a  point  from  N.  to  S.  E.  the 
prince  should  detach  a  part  of  the  flotilla,  at  1  A.  M.  and 
should  be  supported  at  day  break  by  the  squadron  of  the  rear 
admiral,  to  cut  off  the  retreat  of  the  enemy's  small  craft  which 
were  near  the  first  village  east  of  Oczakow  ;  and  that  the  best 
positiont  for  the  squadron  and  flotilla,  in  the  Liman,  to  cover 


*  There  ie  a  proces  rtarbal  of  this  council,  No.  83.  of  the  Pieces  Justificatives.  The 
following  is  preserved  as  the  address  of  the  rear  admiral :  "  Gentlemen — Having  been 
suddenly  called  to  serve  her  imperial  majesty,  I  have  need  of  double  indulgence,  being 
aa  yet  ignorant  of  the  language  and  customs  of  the  country.  I  confess  I  mistrust  my 
capacity  properly  to  discharge  all  the  duties  of  the  high  trust  with  which  her  majesty 
has  honoured  me  ;  but  I  rely  on  my  zeal,  and  on  your  favour,  co-operation,  and  candid 
advice,  for  the  good  of  the  service.  You  are  met,  gentleman,  on  serious  business.  We 
are  to  discuss  points  which  touch  nearly  the  honour  of  the  Russian  flag,  and  the  interests 
of  her  majesty.  We  have  to  deal  with  a  formidable  enemy  ;  but  if  we  are  united 
and  of  one  mind  in  all  our  efforts,  if  our  operations  are  well  concerted  and  vigorously 
executed,  the  known  courage  of  Russians,  the  cause  of  the  empress  and  of  the  country, 
and  the  remembrance  of  so  many  past  victories  afford  us  the  most  flattering  hope  of 
success,  and  cannot  fail  to  inspire  invincible  resolution.  We  must  resolve  to  conquer. 
Let  us  join  our  hands  and  our  hearts.  Let  us  show  that  onr  feelings  are  noble,  and 
cast  far  from  us  all  personal  considerations.  Honour  enough  may  be  gained  by  every 
individual ;  but  the  true  glory  of  a  citizen  is  to  be  useful  to  his  country."  The  ques- 
tions follow,  on  three  of  which  only  resolutions  were  passed,  as  stated  in  the  Journal. 

t  Jones  says  in  a  note :  "  This  was  not  the  rear  admiral's  opinion ;"  and  refers  to  a 
letter  written  by  him  to  the  Prince  de  Nassau  on  the  1st  June.  In  this  he  says :  "  If 
you  will  show  me  a  more  advantageous  position  than  that  which  I  have  taken,  I  will 
change  my  plan  with  pleasure,  and  adopt  yours.  If  you  think  my  duty  requires  me  to 
attack  the  Turkish  fleet  under  existing  circumstances,  [It  was  then  ranged  under  the 
cannon  of  Oczakow. — Note  by  Jones.]  I  ask  you  if  I  must  not  wait,  to  conquer  it? 
Who  wiH  justify  me,  if,  on  my  own  motion,  and  without  any  necessity,  or  waiting  for 
sure  news  of  the  position  of  the  army  of  Prince  Potemkin,  I  should  expose  the  squadron 
to  be  burned  or  captured  ?  Do  you  believe  the  enemy  will  dare  attempt  a  descent  on 
this  side  of  Kinbourn,  to  find  himself  between  two  fires  ?  Last  year's  experience 
proves  that  he  will  run  no  risks  on  the  other  side;  and  that  the  garrison  is  too  strong, 


PAUL   JONES.  411 

Kinbourn  and  act  on  the  defensive,  until  the  approach  of  the 
army  under  Prince  Potomkin,  was  four  verstes  farther  in  advance, 
opposite  the  first  village  east  of  Oczakow,  in  a  straight  line,  N. 
N.E.  S.S.W.  The  batteries  in  the  spaces  between  the  ships, 
and  a  corps  of  reserve,  composed  of  a  division  of  the  flotilla,  to 
cover  the  right  wing.  The  council  was  to  have  met  again  next 
day,  to  decide  on  the  other  points  which  the  rear  admiral  had 
to  propose  ;  among  which  was  the  best  manner  of  attack  and 
defence,  and  the  general  arrangement  of  signals,  which  ought 
all,  in  his  opinion,  to  be  made  on  board  of  the  same  vessel ;  but 
M.  de  Nassau  and  the  Brigadier  Alexiano  opposed  this,  and  the 
council  did  not  re-assemble  as  proposed. 

"  On  the  6th  of  June,  at  2  in  the  morning,  the  prince  of 
Nassau  advanced,  as  had  been  previously  agreed  on,  with  the 
greater  part  of  the  flotilla  ;  but,  in  place  of  cutting  off  the  re- 
treat of  the  vessels  forming  the  enemy's  advanced  guard,  he 
retired  at  day  break  before  a  very  inferior  force,  and  without 
offering  the  smallest  resistance ;  and  the  Turks  chased  him, 
keeping  up  a  cannonade,  into  the  midst  of  the  squadron,  which 
had  advanced  to  take  the  position  assigned  to  them. 

"  The  precipitate  retreat  of  the  prince  of  Nassau  inspirited 
the  Turks  so  much,  that  during  the  night  between  the  6th  and 
7th,  they  drew  up  their  flotilla  in   two  divisions,  in  a  shallow 
close  by  their  own  shore.     The  first  of  these  divisions  had  by 


and  its  generals  skillful  enough  to  repel  an  attack  of  10,000  men.  But,  should  the 
squadron  which  I  have  the  honour  to  command,  be  destroyed,  I  need  not  suggest  to 
you,  that  the  Bog,  Cherson,  &c.  would  be  open  to  the  assaults  of  the  enemy.  I  wish 
with  all  my  heart,  that  your  highness  would  place  one  or  two  batteries  under  the  walls 
of  Kinbourn  to  reinforce  the  place.  [General  Suvorrof  had  earnestly  asked  for  this 
and  I  should  have  been  glad  to  gratify  him. — Note  by  Jones.~\  But  you  must  perceive, 
that  it  is  impossible  for  me  to  give  you  an  escort  up  to  the  batteries  of  Kinbourn,  with- 
out first  conquering  the  Turkish  fleet.  My  instructions  are,  to  protect  Kinbourn,  which 
I  think  I  am  doing  at  this  moment.  If  I  advance,  I  shall  find  myself  in  a  position 
much  weaker,  with  no  advantage  which  I  can  apprehend.  Our  force  in  row  boats  is 
greatly  superior  to  the  Turks,  and  we  can  at  any  time  go  to  the  assistance  of  Kinbourn, 
though  the  wind  should  be  contrary." 


412  PAUL   JONES. 

day  dawn  advanced  within  cannon  shot  of  our  reserve,  which 
had  been  posted  the  previous  night  on  the  right  wing. 

"  At  sunrise  the  Turks  made  sail ;  and  Brigadier  Alexiano 
ran  upon  the  deck  of  the  Wolodimer  half  naked,  ex  claiming  like  a 
frantic  man,  in  French  and  Russian,  that  the  Turks  were  going 
to  attack  and  board  us,  and  that  we  would  be  blown  to  pieces  for 
having  been  so  foolish  as  to  leave  our  former  position.  He  had, 
notwithstanding,  in  the  council  of  war,  given  his  voice  in  favour 
of  the  position  we  now  actually  held.  Brigadier  Ribas,  the 
captain,  and  all  the  crew,  were  witnesses  of  his  extravagant 
and  unjustifiable  behaviour. 

"  This  proved  a  false  alarm  ;  the  Turkish  fleet  did  not  stir. 

"  The  prince  of  Nassau  came  on  board  the  Wolodimer,  and 
the  rear  admiral  proposed  to  him  to  reconnoitre  the  enemy's 
fleet  and  flotilla.  As  they  advanced  together,  the  first  division 
of  the  Turkish  flotilla  began  to  fire  from  their  canoes,  and 
raised  their  anchors  and  rowed  forward  towards  our  reserve, 
which  they  attacked  briskly.  At  the  same  time  several  corps 
of  Turkish  troops  advanced  along  the  opposite  bank,  as  if  they 
intended  to  establish  a  post  or  battery  to  act  on  our  flank.  As 
our  reserve  had  been  posted  to  cover  our  right  wing,  the  prince 
of  Nassau,  who  knew  not  what  to  do,  proposed  to  make  it  draw 
up  in  the  form  of  a  crochet  de  houlette,  the  better  to  sustain  the 
assault.  The  rear  admiral  told  him,  that  on  the  contrary,  it 
was  necessary  to  lift  the  anchors  with  the  utmost  despatch,  and 
to  form  in  line  of  battle  to  meet  the  attack  of  the  Turks.  The 
combat  having  commenced  according  to  this  plan,  the  rear  ad- 
miral hastened  along  our  line,  to  issue  orders  to  the  squadron, 
and,  above  all,  to  make  the  remainder  of  the  flotilla,  posted  be- 
tween the  ships  and  upon  the  left  wing,  advance.  The  wind 
being  adverse,  he  made  these  vessels  be  towed  by  the  ships' 
boats  and  other  boats  attached  to  the  squadron  ;  and  by  an 
oblique  movement  formed  in  front  line,  with  the  intention  of 
cutting  off  the  retreat  of  the  enemy,  and  galling  him  by  a  cross 
fire.  As  soon  as  the  capitau  pacha  perceived  the  manoeuvre 
of  the  "ear  admiral,  he  came  forward  himself  in  his  kirlangitch, 


PAUL  .H«M>.  413 

having  a  very  favourable  wind,  and  made  the  second  division  of 
his  flotilla  advance.  At  this  time  our  reserve  was  very  critically 
situated.  A  double  chaloupe  quitted  the  action,  and  four  of  our 
galleys  were  in  danger  of  being  captured.  The  prince  of  Nas- 
sau, who  did  not  relish  going  himself,  sent  Brigadier  Corsacoff, 
who  made  them  retreat.  Instead  of  remaining  with  the  reserve, 
which,  being  without  a  commander,  was  in  very  great  disorder, 
the  prince  of  Nassau  quitted  his  own  post,  and  stationed  himself 
before  the  rear  admiral,  where  he  could  be  of  no  use  whatever. 
The  rear  admiral  went  into  the  same  boat  with  the  prince  of 
Nassau,  and  again  issued  his  orders  along  the  line.  Being  now 
within  caimon  shot  of  the  enemy,  he  opened  fire,  advancing 
always  in  an  oblique  line  to  cut  off  his  retreat.  At  the  same 
time  he  despatched  Brigadier  Alexiano  to  endeavour  to  rally 
the  vessels  of  the  reserve,  which  the  prince  of  Nassau  had  de- 
serted ;  but  Alexiano  contented  himself  with  waving  his  hat  in 
the  air,  and  shouting  from  behind  the  lines — '  Fire,  my  boys,  on 
the  kirlangitch  of  the  capitan  pacha  !' 

"  When  the  line  led  on  by  the  rear  admiral  came  to  close  fire 
with  the  enemy,  their  flotilla  was  thrown  into  the  utmost  con- 
fusion. Our  reserve  gave  no  farther  way,  and  the  enemy  was 
placed  under  a  cross  fire.  The  capitan  pacha  availed  himself 
of  the  only  resource  he  had  left ;  the  wind  being  in  his  favour, 
he  set  every  sail  to  withdraw  his  force.  Had  he  remained  a 
half  hour  longer,  he  would  have  been  surrounded.  Two  of  his 
vessels  were  burnt  in  this  affair.  The  flotilla  of  the  enemy  was 
composed  of  fifty-seven  vessels,  and  we  chased  them  up  to  their 
fleet.  The  rear  admiral,  who  had  directed  the  whole  affair, 
left  all  the  credit  of  it  to  the  prince  of  Nassau. 

"  An  idea  may  be  formed  of  the  capacity  of  this  prince,  from 
the  circumstance  that,  at  the  beginning  of  the  action  he  re- 
quested the  rear  admiral  to  bring  forward  to  the  support  of  the 
reserve  only  the  vessels  posted  on  the  left  wing,  which  consisted 
of  one  galley  and  two  double  chaloupes.  Besides  the  insuffi- 
ciency of  force,  these  vessels  had  a  very  long  way  to  make,  and 
that  against  the  wind. 


414  PAUL   JONES. 

"  The  Turks  remained  quiet  for  some  time  after  this.  The 
prince  of  Nassau,  who  had  scarce  spoken  one  word  during  the 
affair,  save  to  make  extravagant  professions  of  regard  for  the 
rear  admiral,*  now  began  to  give  himself  airs.  On  the  J3th 
June  he  addressed  a  writing  of  an  extraordinary  character  to  the 
rear  admiral,  the  object  of  which  appeared  to  be,  that  an  ad- 

*  I  find  a  letter  which  must  have  been  written,  according  to  the  old  style,  on  the  8th 
June,  from  Mr.  Littlepage,  who  had  just  arrived  at  the  camp  on  the  Bog,  congratula- 
ting Jones  on  this  affair,  and  informing  him  of  the  satisfaction  which  Mr.  Jefferson, 
the  Marquis  de  la  Fayette,  and  all  his  friends  in  Paris  felt,  on  hearing  of  his  appoint- 
ment.    He  says:  "  Your  star  is  bright ;  and  not,  1  hope,  to  be  eclipsed  by  the  Cres- 
cent.    Prince  Potemkin  is  much  your  friend."     In  his  reply,  on  the  llth,  Jones  says: 
"  The  prince  wrote  me  a  letter  of  thanks  for  the  affair  of  the  7th.     If  the  honour  had 
been  ten  times  greater,  I  should  have  renounced  it  altogether  in  favour  of  the  Prince  de 
Nassau;  but  I  am  sorry  to  say,  he  is  too  jealous  to  be  content  with  my  self-denial. 
Perhaps  he  is  ill  advised,  without  knowing  it.     There  is  nothing,  consistent  with  my 
honour,  that  I  would  not  do  to  make  him  easy.     I  am  the  more  in  pain,  as  I  under- 
stand he  spoke  favourably  of  me  to  the  prince  before  I  arrived.     If  he  now  becomes 
my  enemy,  I  shall  not  imitate  his  example.     It  was  my  intention  to  pay  him  a  compli- 
ment, when  I  said,  in  my  letter  to  the  prince,  that  'he  had  taken  my  counsel  in  good 
part,  in  the  affair  of  the  7th.'    I  showed  the  Prince  de  Nassau  that  letter,  and  he  seemed 
pleased  with  it.     In  the  affair,  he  embraced  me,  and  said,  '  we  should  always  make 
but  one;1  but  now,  I  find,  a  false  construction  has  been  put  on  my  letter,  and  his 
jealousy  supersedes  every  nobler  sentiment."     There  is  a  letter  from  Jones  to  Nassau 
on  the  14th,  among  his  Vindicise  annexed  to  the  Journal,  which  is  certainly  written  in 
a  most  conciliatory  spirit.     Referring  to  several  minor  arrangements  for  the  squadron, 
he  leaves  them  altogether  to  the  prince's  discretion.  He  anxiously  inquires  what  cause 
be  had  given  for  offence  ?  It  is  undoubtedly  to  be  found  in  the  difference  of  opinion  as 
U,  the  position  of  the  squadron,  and  in  the  very  phrase  which  Jones  says  he  intended 
fcr  a  compliment.     He  says  to  him :  "  You  appeared  contented  with  my  letter.    The 
least  word  from  you  would  have  made  me  suppress  it.     I  should  prefer  to  have  kept 
silence  ;  and  on  other  occasions  I  shall  know  how  to  do  so."     In  a  note,  he  says :  "  I 
have  been  well  duped  by  it."  In  Mr.  Littlepage's  reply  to  Jones'  letter  of  the  llth,  he 
says,  that  he  was  not  unadvised  of  the  misunderstanding  between  the  two  commanders, 
previous  to  the  affair  of  the  7th  ;  that  Prince  Potemkin  had  supposed  it  was  settled, 
and  was  deeply  pained  to  hear  it  was  renewed.     "  I  easily  conceive,"  he  says,  "  the 
delicacy  of  your  position ;  and  I  know  that  honour  can  make  no  sacrifices.     But  for 
God's  sake,  my  dear  friend  be  prudent,  on  your  own  account  and  that  of  your  frieiids. 
Prince  Potemkin  has  conceived  a  high  esteem  for  you  ;  but  he  loves  Nassau.     If  ever 
reciprocal  interests  dictated  unity  between  two  persons,  it  is  between  j'ou  and  the 
Prince  de  Nassau ;  for  the  present  moment,  at  least.  *       *  *  Nassau  has  been  unfor- 
tunate, and  he  has  more  than  one  reason  for  endeavouring  to  make  the  best  of  existing 


PAUL   JONES.  415 

vance  should  be  made  of  three  verstes  nearer  the  enemy,  who 
had  taken  post  under  the  batteries  of  Oczakow.  The  rear 
admiral,  who  could  perceive  no  advantage  to  the  service  in  such 
a  movement,  refused  his  concurrence,  the  prince  marshal  having 
approved  his  plan  of  acting  on  the  defensive,*  until  the  arrival 
of  the  land  forces,  or  at  least,  until  the  moment  when  the  Turks 
might  afford  us  an  opportunity  of  attacking  them  to  advantage. 
Had  he  agreed,  the  movement  would  have  been  fatal  to  Russia, 
as  will  be  seen  by  what  follows. 

"  By  the  16th  June,  the  patience  of  the  capitan  pacha  was 
exhausted.  He  brought  from  his  grand  fleet,  without  Kinbourn, 
two  thousand  picked  men,  to  reinforce  the  body  under  the  walls 
of  Oczakow ;  and  being  strengthened  still  farther  by  the  troops 


circumstances.  If_you  find  weaknesses  in  his  character,  excuse  them,  and  remember 
that  he  VMS,  and  I  hope  yet  is,  your  friend.  Pardon  this  liberty,  &c."  Surely  no 
better  advice  was  ever  given,  and  it  was  not  unattended  to  at  the  time.  Jones,  in  a 
letter  written  on  the  20th,  said  he  considered  the  advice  as  a  new  proof  of  true  friend- 
ship ;  that  it  was  that  of  a  man  of  sense ;  and  to  show  he  meant  to  follow  it,  transmit- 
ted a  copy  of  the  letter  to  the  prince ;  the  contents  of  which  have  been  stated.  He  says : 
"  I  have  put  up  with  more  from  Nassau,  than,  under  other  circumstances  I  could  have 
done  front  any  man  who  was  not  crazy.  I  can  no  more  reckon  upon  his  humour  than 
on  the  wind.  One  hour  he  embraces  me  as  his  best  friend,  and  the  next  he  is  ready  to 
cut  my  throat."  He  then  goes  into  a  technical  explanation  of  his  reasons  for  not 
thinking  it  expedient  to  advance  three  verstes,  before  the  affair  of  the  7th,  and  relates 
subsequent  operations,  as  they  will  be  found  in  the  text  of  the  Journal.  New  causes 
of  offence  had  been  given  at  the  date  of  this  letter,  and  it  is  plain  from  the  beginning, 
that  Jones  must  have  changed  his  character  entirely  before  he  could  submit  to  harmo- 
nize with  the  prince  at  the  expense  of  his  understanding,  pride,  and  fame. 

*  In  a  letter  of  the  8th,  to  the  rear  admiral,  Potemkin  expressly  said :  "  I  would  desire 
you  could  defer  your  operations,  until  I  may  have  approached  nearer  to  you,  excepting 
in  case  the  enemy  should  give  you  a  good  opportunity  to  offer  battle,  or  that  the  safety 
of  Kinbourn  should  require  it."  If  Jones  be  correct,  the  prince  must  have  calculated 
that  the  first  exception  would  soon  occur ;  for,  he  says  in  a  note :  "  the  prince  never  had 
any  intention  of  passing  the  Bog,  while  the  Turkish  squadron  was  in  the  Liman.  I 
do  not  presume  to  suggest  his  reasons."  And  in  a  passage  of  Mr.  Lattlepage's  letter 
which  has  been  quoted  from,  informing  him  that  unforeseen  difficulties  in  the  passage 
of  the  river  had  made  a  countermarch  necessary,  he  makes  this  remark :  "  It  was  a 
sham,  (Jeinte,)  for  the  prince  never  intended  to  cross  the  Bog  while  the  Turkish 
squadron  was  in  the  Liman.  I  have  this  from  Brigadier  Ribas,  and  many  others  in  hia 
full  confidence." 


416  PAUL  JONES. 

of  the  garrison,  he  advanced  with  his  whole  fleet  and  flotilla, 
and  with  a  fair  wind,  into  the  Liinan,  to  attack  and  board  us.* 
The  ship,  which  bore  one  of  the  admiral's  flags,  steered  right 
towards  the  Wolodimer  from  the  commencement  of  the  move- 
ment. When  within  two  verstes  of  us,  or  little  more,  this  ship 
got  aground,  and  all  the  vessels  which  accompanied  it  imme- 
diately dropt  anchor.  It  was  then  about  two  in  the  afternoon. 

"  The  rear  admiral  summoned  a  council  of  war  to  consult  on 
what  should  be  done.  He  addressed  the  council,  at  which  were 
present  all  the  commanders  of  the  squadron  and  the  flotilla,  and 
concluded  by  telling  them,  '  that  they  must  make  up  their  minds 
to  conquer  or  die  for  their  country.'t 

"  The  wind,  which  was  rather  fresh,  being  against  us,  the 
only  thing  proposed  by  the  rear  admiral  that  was  found  practi- 
cable was,  to  draw  up  our  force  in  an  obtuse  angle,  by  bringing 
forward,  by  anchors,  the  right  of  the  line  up  to  the  centre.  This 
movement  was  completed  before  midnight.  The  wind  had 
shifted  to  N.  N.  E.  and  at  break  of  day  on  the  17th,  the  rear 
admiral  made  signal,  and  the  whole  squadron  immediately  set 
sail  to  commence  the  attack  on  the  Turks. 

"  The  Turks  got  into  confusion  the  instant  this  manoeuvre 
was  perceived.  They  raised  their  anchors  or  cut  their  cables 


*  "  The  plan  of  the  capitan  pacha  was  to  bear  down  full  sail  on  the  vessels  of  our 
flotilla,  and  run  them  to  the  bottom  by  the  shock  of  the  encounter  of  his  large  ships. 
He  also  proposed  to  burn  our  squadron  by  throwing  in  fire-balls,  (grappins,)  and  set- 
ting fire  to  certain  trading  vessels  which  he  had  prepared  as  fire-ships.  He  had  reason 
to  calculate  on  success,  had  he  not  been  thwarted  by  a  circumstance  which  no  man 
could  have  foreseen." — Note  by  Paul  Jones. 

t  It  seems  unnecessary  to  insert  the  address  made  at  this  council,  which  is  found 
among  the  pitcesjustificatwes.  Three  questions  as  to  the  manner  of  attack  were  pro- 
posed ;  the  resolutions  upon  them  are  not  mentioned.  By  a  statement  of  the  force  of 
the  squadron  under  Jones  on  that  day,  it  appears  it  consisted  of  one  frigate  carry  ing  40 
guns  of  different  calibres,  four  carrying  26,  two  24,  one  20,  and  one  16,  and  four  vessels 
carrying  in  all  66  guns.  His  own  vessel,  the  Wolodimer,  a  70  gun  ship,  carried 
only  24  twenty-four  pounders  and  two  Kcornes,  pieces  from  which  perforated  balls 
were  discharged,  filled  with  combustibles.  The  shallowness  of  the  Liman  would  not 
allow  of  a  greater  weight  of  metal. 


PAUL,    JONES.  417 

with  the  greatest  precipitation,  and  not  the  shadow  of  order  re- 
mained in  their  fleet.  Our  squadron  advanced  in  line  of  battle 
with  an  imposing  and  formidable  appearance,  so  that  the  Turks 
knew  not  how  weak  it  really  was.  As  our  flotilla  had  been  very 
slow  in  weighing  anchor,  the  rear  admiral  was  obliged  to  make 
the  squadron  halt  twice  to  wait  for  it.  At  length,  the  flotilla 
being  always  last,  the  squadron  opened  fire  on  the  enemy,  of 
whom  the  person  second  in  command,  who  had  flown  about 
like  a  fool,  quickly  ran  his  ship  on  a  sand  bank  on  the  south  of 
the  Liman.  There  was  no  longer  hope  for  him  ;  from  the  mo- 
ment he  grounded  he  was  ours.  The  enemy  still  kept  flying 
about,  and  always  in  the  greatest  disorder.  The  rear  admiral 
ordered  his  ship  (the  Wolodimer)  to  be  steered  to  within  pistol 
shot  of  the  vessel  of  the  capitan  pacha,  but  the  latter  again  ran 
aground  upon  a  sand  bank  ;  and  a  few  minutes  afterwards  the 
Brigadier  Alexiano  gave  orders  in  the  Russian  language,  and 
unknown  to  the  rear  admiral,  to  drop  the  Wolodimer's  anchor.* 
It  was  pretended  that  there  were  but  fifteen  feet  of  water  a 
little  way  in  advance  of  the  ship,  which  was  not  true.  A  con- 
siderable time  before  this  the  squadron  had  been  taken  on  the 
right  flank  by  the  Turkish  flotilla,  drawn  up  on  the  shallows, 
near  the  bank  to  the  east  of  Oczakow,  and  commanded  by  the 
capitan  pacha  himself.  The  flotilla  annoyed  the  squadron  con- 
siderably, by  incessantly  throwing  in  along  our  line  both  bombs 
and  balls  of  great  size.  Wanting  depth  of  water,  our  frigates 
could  not  advance  far  enough  to  dislodge  them,  and,  besides, 
they  found  that  their  guns  were  too  small.  The  capitan  pacha 
sunk  one  of  our  frigates,  named ]  the  Little  Alexander,  by  a 
bomb,  at  the  side  of  the  Wolodimer,  and  at  the  very  instant 
Brigadier  Alexiano  made  the  anchor  be  cast.  Our  flotilla 
still  lagged  behind,  but  it  did  at  last  advance.  Having  passed 


*  M.  Zefaliano,  captain  of  the  Wolodimer  certifies  to  the  facts  mentioned  in  this 
statement.  His  declaration,  duly  attested,  is  among  the  documents  annexed  to  the 
Journal 

52 


418  PAUL    JONES. 

through  the  squadron  in  the  greatest  disorder,  and  without  the 
least  appearance  of  being  under  command,  instead  of  pursuing 
the  flying  Turks,  the  flotilla  swarmed  round  the  Turkish  ships 
which  were  aground  like  a  hive  of  bees. 

"  The  rear  admiral  commanded  Brigadier  Alexiano  to  get 
together  some  vessels  of  our  flotilla  to  dislodge  the  Turkish 
flotilla.  At  the  same  moment  the  rear  admiral  advanced  in  his 
boat  towards  the  left  wing,  where  the  prince  of  Nassau  was  with 
his  body  of  reserve,  employed  to  very  little  purpose,  in  surround- 
ing the  first  Turkish  vessel  which  was  aground,  leaning  on  one 
side,  and  firing  upon  it.  The  rear  admiral  entreated  him  to 
bring  or  send  the  reserve  to  act  against  the  Turkish  flotilla 
upon  our  right  flank,  and  informed  him  of  the  misfortune  which 
had  befallen  the  Little  Alexander  ;  but  M.  de  Nassau  remained 
quietly  behind  his  batteries,  and  made  no  movement  to  dislodge 
the  flotilla  of  the  enemy. 

"  The  rear  admiral  then  met  Brigadier  CorsacofF,  to  whom 
he  gave  orders  similar  to  those  he  had  given  to  M.  Alexiano; 
and  these  two  officers  having  got  together  as  many  vessels  of 
the  flotilla  as  they  could  collect,  assisted  our  frigates  in  dislodg- 
ing and  chasing  the  Turkish  flotilla  even  till  under  the  walls  of 
Oczakow.  M.  de  CorsacofF  was  a  brave  and  an  intelligent 
man;  he  did  not  affect  to  have  done  any  thing  wonderful. 
Alexiano  was  a  man  of  limited  talent  and  of  questionable 
courage,  but  his  vanity  was  excessive.  He  pretended  to  have 
towed  a  battery  to  within  pistol  shot  of  the  enemy's  flotilla  ;  but 
M.  AkmatofF,  who  commanded  that  battery,  declared  that 
neither  he  nor  any  one  of  our  people  ever  were  nearer  the 
Turkish  flotilla  than  half  cannon  shot. 

"  The  Turkish  fleet  was  now  distant.  The  prince  of  Nassau 
was  told  that  the  Admiral's  flag,  which  had  been  displayed  on  the 
vessel  of  the  capitan  pacha,  was  struck,  and  he  hastily  advanced 
to  claim  it.  The  ship  of  the  capitan  pacha,  like  the  other,  was 
a  la  bande,  that  is  to  say,  it  leaned  much  to  one  side,  and  conse- 
quently could  not  make  use  of  its  guns.  As  the  flag  of  the 
capitan  pacha  fell  into  the  water  from  the  top  of  the  main-mast. 


PAUL   JONES.  419 

having  been  struck  down  by  a  ball,  it  is  not  difficult  to  discover 
that  the  vessel  which  had  fired  this  ball  was  in  no  danger  of 
being  touched  by  case  shot.  The  Zaporavians  picked  up  the 
flag  from  the  water,  and  the  prince  of  Nassau,  a  long  while 
afterwards,  had  the  glory  (which  he  turned  to  good  account) 
of  having  snatched  it  from  their  hands.  The  rear  admiral 
might  have  claimed  at  least  half  of  this  flag,  as  he  bad  his 
hands  on  it  at  the  same  moment  with  the  prince  of  Nassau ; 
but  he  regarded  it  as  a  thing  of  very  little  consequence. 

"  Brandcougles*  had  been  thrown  into  the  two  Turkish  ves- 
sels which  were  aground,  and  they  were  burnt.  Was  this  a 
good  or  a  bad  piece  of  service  ?  These  two  vessels  were  ours, 
from  the  circumstance  of  having  run  aground,  and  because  their 
crews  had  been  left  by  their  countrymen  under  the  guns  of  our 
squadron.  Wherefore  did  the  flotilla  interfere  with  them  f 
ought  it  not  rather  to  have  pursued  the  flying  Turks,  who  were 
not  yet  under  the  protection  of  the  guns  of  Oczakow?  Our 
flotilla  had  received  no  injury,  and  had  nothing  to  fear  from  the 
shallowness  of  the  water. 

"  Having  first  sounded,  the  rear  admiral  made  the  squadron 
advance  another  verste,  and  took  post  in  a  right  line,  barely 
out  of  shot  of  Oczakow,  and  in  line  with  the  last  Turkish  ship 
that  had  been  run  aground  and  taken.  Fire  soon  after  broke 
out  in  this  prize,  which  had  been  imprudently  fired  upon  with 
brandcougles.  The  fleet  and  flotilla  of  the  Turks  now  drew  up 
in  a  line  parrallel  to  ours,  and  under  the  walls  of  Oczakow. 

"  How  imbecile  does  the  human  mind  become  under  the  in- 
fluence of  sudden  panic  !  The  rear  admiral,  an  hour  after  the 
affair,  advanced  in  his  boat,  and  took  soundings  all  along  the 
Turkish  line,  opposite  the  walls  of  Oczakow,  and  within  reach 
of  case  shot,  and  not  a  single  gun  was  fired  upon  him. 

"  Previously  to  taking  command  of  the  squadron,  the  rear 


*  A  note  by  Paul  Jones  describes  these  incendiary  missiles  as  a  kind  of  bomb-shells, 
perforated  with  holes,  and  filled  inside  with  combustible  materials.  They  were  fired 
from  a  sort  of  piece?  called  Licornes. 


490  PAUL   JONES, 

admiral  had  gone  to  Kinbourn  with  the  Chevalier  Ribas 
brigadier  du  jour,  to  the  prince  marshal,  to  reconnoitre  the 
position  and  force  of  the  fleet  and  flotilla  under  the  capitan 
pacha,  and  to  examine  the  entrance  of  the  Liman.  They 
arrived  at  Kinbourn  at  the  very  time  that  the  capitan  pacha 
had  detached  twenty-one  vessels  of  war  from  his  fleet,  and  with 
that  force  entered  the  road  of  Oczakow,  the  wind  not  permit- 
ting him  to  enter  the  Liman,  where  his  flotilla  and  some  trans- 
port ships  were  already  stationed.  The  rear  admiral  was  so 
struck  at  finding  the  tongue  of  land  at  Kinbourn  without  any 
battery  or  block  fort,  that  he  instantly  spoke  of  it  to  the  com- 
mandant, General  Suvorrof.  This  tongue  of  land,  from  its 
position,  commands  the  only  passage  by  which  large  vessels 
can  either  enter  or  come  out  of  the  Liman,  and  the  fortress  of 
Kinbourn  is  far  too  distant  to  be  able  to  command  this  passage. 
The  rear  admiral  proposed  to  establish  one  or  more  strong 
batteries  upon  this  stripe  of  land,  and  M.  de  Ribas  seconded 
the  proposition.  After  considerable  delay,  General  Suvorrof 
resolved  to  establish  a  block  fort  with  heavy  cannon  upon  this 
point,  and  a  battery  farther  within.*  But  the  capitan  pacha 
had  already  got  the  twenty-one  ships  in  question  into  the 
Liman. 

"  At  10  o'clock  on  the  night  between  the  17th  and  18th  of 
June,  the  capitan  pacha  attempted  to  carry  the  remains  of  his 
squadron,  which  had  been  defeated  at  eve,  out  of  the  Liman ; 
but  the  block  fort  and  battery  fired  on  his  ships,  of  which  nine 
of  the  largest  were  forced  aground  upon  the  sand  bank  which 
runs  out  from  Oczakow,  at  the  distance  of  cannon  shot  from 
the  block  fort. 

"  The  block  fort  and  battery  fired  on  the  enemy  the  whole 
night,  and  at  daybreak  General  Suvorrof  sent  to  us,  requesting 
that  we  would  send  vessels  to  take  possession  of  the  ships  of 


*  General  Suvorrof  had  the  nobleness  to  say  at  court,  in  February,  1789,  in  a  con- 
versation with  the  Baron  and  General  Elmt,  that  the  plan  of  establishing  this  block 
fort  belonged  to  the  rear  admiral. — Note  by  Jones. 


PAUL    JO.NES.  121 

the  enemy  which  had  got  aground.  The  rear  admiral  wished 
to  send  frigates ;  but  Brigadier  Alexiano  assured  him  that  he 
would  run  great  risk  of  losing  them.  The  current  there,  he 
said,  '  was  like  that  of  a  mill-dam,  and  the  bottom  was  so  bad 
that  anchors  would  not  hold.' 

"  It  was,  accordingly,  resolved  to  proceed  with  the  flotilla  ; 
and  Alexiano,  who  had  his  private  reasons,  set  out  with  the 
prince  of  Nassau.*  The  flotilla  went  pell-mell,  and  without 
any  sort  of  order  or  plan,  upon  the  nine  ships  aground,  and  fired 
brandcougles  into  them  without  mercy.  It  was  in  vain  the 
wretched  Turks  made  the  sign  of  the  cross,  and  begged  for 
quarter  on  their  knees!  Above  three  thousand  of  them  were 
burnt  with  their  ships.  By  some  chance  two  of  these  vessels, 
the  least  and  the  largest,  did  not  take  fire ;  the  one  was  a  cor- 


*  In  a  letter  to  Mr.  Littlepage,  written  on  the  20th,  Jones  says :  "  Without  explain- 
ing to  me  any  of  his  reasons,  the  prince  of  Nassau  wished  to  go  there,  (to  the  sand 
bank  under  Oczakow,)  with  all  the  flotilla.  I  opposed  it;  because  all  the  Turkish 
flotilla  was  under  the  cannon  of  the  place,  within  cannon  shot  of  our  right  wing,  and 
we  ought  to  have  waited  till  the  squadron  should  be  attacked  by  it.  He  permitted 
himself  to  say  many  uncivil  things  ;  among  others,  that  fie  was  always  wanted  to  pro- 
tect my  squadron,  with  his  flotilla.  As  he  had  often  said  such  things  since  the  affair 
of  the  7th,  I  told  him  it  was  improper  for  him  to  say  this  and  for  me  to  hear  it.  That 
the  squadron  was  respectable,  as,  belonging  to  the  empress  and  having  conquered  her 
majesty's  enemies.  He  bragged  that  he  had  taken  the  two  ships.  I  told  him  that  I 
saw  nothing  extraordinary  in  that;  because  they  were  aground,  and,  of  course,  cap- 
tured before  he  came  up.  He  said  he  would  write  what  I  had  uttered  to  Prince  Po- 
temkin ;  and  that  he  knew  better  than  /  did,  how  to  take  ships  !  I  told  him,  that  with- 
out impugning  his  skill,  he  was  not  ignorant  that  I  had  proved  my  ability  to  take  ships, 
which  were  not  Turks.  He  got  out  of  all  control  of  himself;  and  threatened  to  write 
against  me,  to  the  empress  and  Prince  Potemkui.  As  for  that,  I  told  him,  if  he  was 
base  enough  to  do  it,  I  defied  his  malice.  He  left  me  three  half-galleys,  (aemi-galeres,) 
one  small  battery,  and  one  chaloupe,  which  I  placed  under  our  right  wing,  and  has 
not  spoken  to  me  since.  Before  this  ridiculous  dispute,  our  combination  was  unne- 
cessary ;  otherwise  I  would  have  put  up  with  still  more,  for  the  good  of  the  service. 
I  feel  no  rancour  against  him  ;  and  though  he  said,  in  a  bitter  tone,  that  I  would  be 
rejoiced  to  see  him  beaten,  he  little  understood  my  heart !"  In  a  note,  he  says:  "  He 
pays  a  poor  compliment  to  himself,  who  ascribes  such  sentiments  to  a  man  whose 
honour  U  known.  If  I  had  kept  quiet  on  the  7th  June,  his  business  would  have  been 
soon  transacted." 


PAUL   JONES. 

vette,  very  indifferently  armed,  carrying  one  battery  and  four 
pieces  between  decks.  The  other  was  a  small  brigantine,  of 
French  construction,  armed  with  fourteen  small  guns. 

"  Neither  the  prince  of  Nassau  nor  Alexiano  was  to  be  seen 
at  this  time.  They  were  together,  and  at  some  distance,  during 
this  frightful  carnage ;  and  it  was  afterwards  asked  of  them  if 
they  had  not,  during  this  time,  been  at  Kinbourn?  As  the 
greatest  confusion  reigned  among  the  vessels  of  the  flotilla, 
though  our  loss  was  not  great,  there  is  no  doubt  that  part  of  it 
was  owing  to  Russian  bullets. 

"  The  army  of  Prince  Potemkin  having  come  up  on  the  27th 
June,  the  prince  of  Nassau  had  orders  to  attack  and  destroy, 
or  capture,  the  Turkish  flotilla  which  lay  under  the  walls  of  Oc- 
zakow  j  and  the  rear  admiral  was  commanded  to  give  him  every 
assistance  that  might  be  useful.  In  pursuance  of  these  orders, 
on  the  1st  of  July,  at  one  in  the  morning,  the  flotilla  advanced. 
The  rear  admiral  had  sent  all  the  chaloupes  and  barcasses  be- 
longing to  the  squadron  to  haul  out  the  vessels  of  the  flotilla. 
The  prince  marshal  had  taken  the  trouble  to  arrange  the  plan 
of  attack  himself,  but  his  plan  was  not  followed. 

"  At  daybreak,  our  flotilla  having  advanced  only  within  can- 
non shot,  opened  fire  upon  the  Turkish  flotilla,  and  on  the  place. 
The  current  having  carried  several  of  our  batteries  and  double 
chaloupes  rather  too  far  to  leeward,  the  rear  admiral  had  them 
hauled  up  by  the  boats  and  barcasses  of  the  squadron,  and  set 
the  example  himself  with  the  chaloupe  in  which  he  was.  The 
Turks  set  fire  themselves  to  a  little  frigate  which  they  had  pre- 
pared as  a  fire-ship,  and  placed  at  anchor  to  the  N.  E.  of  Fort 
Hassan  Pacha. 

"  At  six  in  the  morning,  the  rear  admiral  advanced  consi- 
derably in  front  of  the  flotilla  to  seize  five  of  the  enemy's  gal- 
leys which  lay  within  case  shot  to  the  east  of  Fort  Hassan.  The 
position  of  these  galleys,  between  the  cross  fire  of  our  flotilla  on 
one  side,  and  that  of  Fort  Hassan,  the  Turkish  flotilla,  and  the 
citadel  of  Oczakow  on  the  other,  rendered  this  a  very  danger- 
ous :iterprise.  The  rear  admiral  boarded  the  galley  which  lay 


PAUL    JONES.  423 

farthest  out,  and  had  it  towed  out  of  danger  in  a  short  time  by 
Lieutenant  Left'  Fahrician.  He  afterwards  boarded  the  galley 
of  the  capitan  pacha,  which  lay  considerably  nearer  the  fort. 
From  unskilfulness,  and  excess  of /eal,  a  young  officer  cut  the 
cable  of  this  galley  without  waiting  the  orders  of  the  rear  ad- 
miral, and  before  the  boats  could  be  got  in  order  to  haul  it  out. 
the  wind  drifted  the  galley  towards  the  shore,  and  still  nearer 
to  the  fort.  The  rear  admiral  had  the  galley  lightened  by 
throwing  many  things  overboard.  After  much  search  for  ropes 
that  might  stretch  to  the  wreck  of  the  burnt  frigate,  and  get  the 
galley  afloat  by  that  means,  the  plan  failed  from  the  ropes 
not  being  long  enough.  The  rear  admiral  was  very  unwilling 
to  yield  to  the  obstinate  opposition  of  the  Turks,  who  fired  upon 
him  from  all  their  bastions  and  from  their  flotilla  and  he  de- 
spatched Lieutenant  Fox  to  the  Wolodimer,  to  fetch  an  anchor 
and  cable.  This  was  a  certain  means  of  securing  his  object  in 
spite  of  the  enemy  ;  and  in  waiting  the  return  of  the  lieute- 
nant, he  left  the  galley  with  his  people,  and  assisted  again  in 
towing  the  batteries.  Before  the  return  of  Lieutenant  Fox,  he 
had,  however,  the  mortification  to  see  fire  break  out  in  the  gal- 
ley of  the  capitan  pacha.  He  at  first  believed  that  the  slaves 
chained  on  board  had  found  means  to  escape,  and  had  set  fire 
to  the  vessel  ;  but  he  had  afterwards  positive  proof  that  Briga- 
dier Alexiano  being  in  a  boat  at  the  time  with  the  prince  of 
Nassau,  on  the  outside  of  the  flotilla,  and  being  aware  of  the 
intention  of  the  rear  admiral,  swore  that  it  should  not  succeed, 
and  sent  a  Greek  canoe  to  set  fire  to  the  galley  !*  The  three 
other  Turkish  galleys  were  at  once  run  down  and  burnt  by 
brandcougles.  There  were  also  a  two-masted  ship  and  a  large 


*  The  attestation  of  a  Russian  officer  to  this  fact  is  among  the  pitcts  justifiiatives  ap- 
pended to  the  Journal ;  and  the  original  of  that  attestation,  written  in  French,  and 
subscribed  Bibicroff,  officer  of  the  guard,  and  dated  at  Kinbourn,  the  26th  October, 
1788,  remains  among  Jones'  papers.  This  officer's  certificate  makes  no  mention  of 
Nassau.  He  simply  states,  that  the  Brigadier  Alexiano  sent  a  chaloupe  to  set  fire  to 
tlie  galley  which  the  rear  admiral  was  anxious  to  save. 


424  PAUL    JONES. 

bomb  vessel  burnt  near  Fort  Hassan  Pacha.  This  includes  all 
that  was  taken  or  destroyed  by  water,  save  fifty-two  prisoners 
taken  by  the  rear  admiral  in  the  two  galleys.  The  wretched 
beings  who  were  chained  in  the  galley  of  the  capitan  pacha 
perished  there  in  the  flames  ! 

"  The  prince  marshal  having  made  an  important  diversion 
on  the  land  side,  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  advantage  was  not 
taken  of  this  movement  to  seize  the  remainder  of  the  enemy's 
flotilla.  But  our  flotilla  never  came  up  within  reach  of  grape 
shot." 

The  above  extract  from  the  rear  admiral's  Journal  is  verified 
in  the  following  manner  :  "  This  extract  has  been  translated  by 
me  into  the  Russian  language,  and  read  before  the  commanders 
of  the  ship  Wolodimer,  Captain  of  the  second  rank  Zefaliano ; 
of  the  frigate  Scoroi,  Captain  of  the  second  rank  Aboljanin  ;  of 
the  frigate  Nicolai,  Captain  Lieutenant  DanilofF;  of  the  frigate 
Taheuroc,  Lieutenant  M akinin  ;  of  the  frigate  the  Little  Alex- 
ander, Lieutenant  Savitzsky ;  and  they  have  found  nothing  in 
them  contrary  to  truth. 

"  On  board  the  Wolodimer,  before  Oczakow,  the  28th  Octo- 
ber, 1788. 

"PAUL  DENITREFFSKY, 

"  Honorary  Counsellor  of  the  College  for  foreign 
affairs,  and  by  special  orders  of  her  Imperial 
Majesty  of  all  the  Russias,  Secretary  to  Rear 
Admiral  and  Chevalier  Paul  Jones." 

ADDITION  OF  THE  REAR  ADMIRAL  TO  THE  PRECEDING 
JOURNAL. 

"  The  moment  the  ships  began  to  withdraw  from  Oczakow, 
the  prince  of  Nassau  and  Brigadier  Alexiano  hurried  straight 
to  the  head  quarters  of  the  prince  marshal,  to  relate  the  things 
which  both  pretended  they  had  performed.  In  a  few  minutes 
after  the  flotilla  began  to  retire,  the  rain  fell  in  torrents,  of 


PAUL   JONES.  425 

which  Nassau  and  Alexiano  received  their  own  share  before 
reaching  head  quarters. 

"  Two  days  afterwards,  Brigadier  Alexiano  returned  on 
board  the  Wolodimer,  having  caught  a  malignant  fever,  of 
which  he  died  on  the  8th  July.  The  prince  of  Nassau,  who  had 
made  use  of  him  in  caballing  against  me — God  knows  where- 
fore— neither  visited  him  in  his  sickness,  nor  assisted  at  his 
funeral.  At  first  it  was  given  out,  that  the  service  must  sustain 
the  loss  of  every  Greek  in  it,  on  account  of  his  death  ;  but  I 
soon  experienced  the  reverse.  Not  one  asked  to  be  dismissed  ; 
they  remained  under  my  command  with  the  Russians,  and 
were  more  contented  than  before.  On  the  day  preceding  the 
death  of  Alexiano,  he  had  received  intelligence  of  having  been 
promoted  two  grades ;  and  that  her  majesty  had  bestowed  on 
him  a  fine  estate,  and  peasants,  in  White  Russia.  At  the  same 
time  the  prince  of  Nassau  had  received  a  very  valuable  estate, 
with  three  or  four  thousand  peasants,  also  in  White  Russia, 
and  the  military  order  of  St.  George,  of  the  second  class.  Her 
majesty  likewise  gave  him  liberty  to  hoist  the  flag  of  vice  admiral 
at  the  taking  of  Oczakow,  to  which  event  it  was  apparently  be- 
lieved he  would  greatly  contribute.  I  received  the  order  of  St. 
Ano*1  *  an  honour  with  which  I  am  highly  flattered,  and  with 
which  I  could  have  been  perfectly  satisfied,  had  others  been 
recompensed  only  in  the  same  proportion,  and  according  to  the 
merit  of  their  services.  All  the  officers  of  the  flotilla  received  a 
step  of  promotion  and  the  gratuity  of  a  year's  pay.  The  greater 
part  of  them  also  obtained  the  order  of  St.  George,  of  the  last 
class.  Only  two  of  these  officers  had  been  bred  to  the  sea ;  none  of 


*  I  find  two  letters  from  Count  Segur  at  St.  Petersburgh,  written  to  Jones  in  this 
month,  (July,)  of  the  14th  and  29th,  both  in  a  highly  complimentary  view,  of  course. 
He  says  in  the  former :  "  The  empress  being  absent,  I  forwarded  a  copy  of  the  greatest 
part  of  your  letter  to  General  Momonoff,  who  had  it  read  to  that  princess.  She  is 
highly  satisfied  with  it,  and  in  two  lines  from  her  hand  has  been  pleased  to  charge 
me  with  assurances  to  you,  of  the  great  respect  in  which  she  holds  your  services 
General  MomonofFbegs  me  to  say,  that  he  will  endeavour  to  merit  the  obliging  things 
you  say  of  him." 

53 


426  PAUL  JONES. 

the  others  had  been  engaged  in  navigation.  The  officers 
squadron  under  my  command  were  almost  wholly  marine  of- 
ficers. They  had  done  their  duty  well  when  opposed  to  the 
enemy  ;  but  they  obtained  no  promotion,  no  mark  of  distinction, 
no  pecuniary  gratification.  My  mortification  was  excessive ; 
but  my  officers  at  this  time  gave  me  a  very  gratifying  proof  of 
their  attachment.  On  promising  that  I  would  demand  justice 
for  them  from  the  prince  marshal  at  the  close  of  the  campaign, 
they  stifled  their  vexation,  and  made  no  complaint. 

"  It  ought  to  have  been  mentioned  in  the  proper  place,  that 
three  days  after  our  success  in  the  Liman,  Prince  Potemkin 
arrived  at  Kinbourn,  from  whence  he  came  on  board  the  Wolo- 
dimer  to  make  me  a  visit.  He  was  accompanied  by  General 
Count  de  Brandisky  of  Poland,  the  prince  de  Repuin,  the  Prince 
de  Ligne,  General  de  Samoilow,  and  several  other  officers.  His 
highness  did  me  the  honour  to  remain  to  dinner  ;  and  as  he 
knew  that  an  altercation  had  taken  place  between  the  prince  of 
Nassau  and  myself  on  the  morning  of  the  18th  of  June,*  he  had 
the  goodness  to  employ  the  Prince  de  Ligne,  and  M.  Littlepage, 
chamberlain  to  the  king  of  Poland,  to  pursuade  the  prince  of 
Nassau  to  make  me  an  apology.  I  accepted  it  with  sincere 
pleasure.  We  embraced  in  presence  of  this  honourable  com- 
pany, and  I  believed  him  as  sincere  as  myself. 

"  The  prince  marshal  charged  me  at  this  time  to  make 
arrangements  for  raising  the  cannon,  anchors,  and  other  effects 


*  In  Jones'  despatch  to  Potemkin,  on  the  18th  June,  he  alludes  to  the  dispute  be- 
tween Nassau  and  himself  about  despatching  all  the  flotilla  to  the  sand  bank,  and  to 
the  passion  into  which  the  former  was  thrown.  This  was  certainly  impolitic.  In 
the  same  despatch  he  praised  Alexiano's  services,  at  the  prince's  expense,-  and  recom- 
mended him  to  favour.  But  he  says  in  a  note,  he  was  mistaken,  in  interesting  himself 
in  that  ingrate  Potemkin  could  not  have  been  pleased  with  the  continuance  of  an 
altercation,  of  the  merits  of  which  he  was  probably  not  able  to  judge  ;  and  as  Mr.  Lit- 
tlepage had  already  warned  Jones,  "  he  loved  Nassau."  He  also  gives  credit  to 
Alexiano,  and  irnpliedly  censures  Nassau,  in  his  report  to  the  admiralty,  at  Cherson, 
on  the  same  occasion.  Potemkin  directed  him  not  to  write  again,  directly,  to  the 
admiralty. 


PAUL   JONES.  427 

belonging  to  the  enemy's  ships  which  had  been  burnt.  With- 
out loss  of  time,  I  detailed  a  transport  ship  with  officers  and 
people  for  this  service. 

His  highness  the  prince  marshal  advanced  his  army,  which 
crossed  the  Bog  and  appeared  in  sight  of  us  on  the  borders  of 
the  Liman,  on  the  27th  June,  and  on  the  next  day  the  capitan 
pacha  weighed  anchor  with  his  grand  fleet,  which  had  constantly 
remained  twenty  or  thirty  verstes  beyond  Kinbourn,  and  direct- 
ed his  course  towards  the  entrance  of  the  Danube,  carrying  three 
admiral's  flags,  and  followed  by  all  the  vessels  that  had  escaped 
us  in  the  Liman.  During  the  whole  time  that  we  were  exposed 
to  having  a  serious  affair  with  the  Turks,  Brigadier  Alexiano 
had  carefully  kept  a  Greek  felucca  of  eighteen  odfs  alongside 
the  Wolodimer.  This  felucca  was  better  built  for  sailing  than 
any  of  the  other  chaloupes  or  rowing  vessels  belonging  to  the 
whole  squadron,  so  that  he  had  at  all  times  the  means  of  saving 
himself  in  case  of  any  disastrous  event.  Even  the  prince  of 
Nassau,  since  his  retreat  on  the  6th  of  June,  was  never  seen  in 
any  vessel  of  the  flotilla,  but  always  in  a  chaloupe,  which  had 
been  built  for  the  especial  use  of  her  imperial  majesty  on  her 
late  voyage.  For  myself,  I  took  no  such  precautions.  I  saw 
that  I  must  conquer  or  die.  For  me  there  was  no  retreat.  The 
instant  that  Alexiano  saw  the  troops  appear,  he  despatched  his 
felucca  to  inform  the  prince  marshal  that  it  was  he,  in  his  zeal 
for  the  service,  who  had  employed  people  to  save  the  effects  of 
the  burnt  prizes.  Nothing  could  be  less  true.  He  had  not  taken 
the  smallest  concern  in  the  matter.  But  this  shows  the  charac- 
ter of  the  man.  Next  day  I  was  informed  that  the  transport 
ship  I  had  employed  on  this  service  was  already  too  heavily 
laden,  and  made  a  great  deal  of  water.  As  the  wind  was  fair 
for  Glauboca,  I  gave  orders  that  she  should  immediately  go 
thither  to  unload.  Some  hours  after  the  departure  of  the 
transport,  Brigadier  Alexiano  returned  from  Kinbourn,  where 
he  had  dined,  and  said  several  impertinent  things  to  me  on  the 
subject  of  the  transport.  He  went  afterwards  to  head  quarters 
to  complain  of  me  to  the  prince  marshal.  In  consequence  of 


428  PAUL   JONES. 

this  complaint  I  received  a  letter  from  his  brigadier  dujour,  trie 
Chevalier  Ribas,  which,  among  other  things,  mentioned  that  the 
prince  marshal  was  '  singularly  severe  and  strict  in  all  that 
related  to  the  orders  he  gave.'  I  replied,  that  I  was  not  afraid 
of  the  severity  of  the  prince  marshal,  as  I  had  done  nothing 
save  my  duty,  in  pursuance  of  his  own  orders.* 

"  Next  day  I  paid  a  visit  to  Prince  de  Nassau.  I  supposed  I 
should  be  received  with  open  arms,  [a  reconciliation  it  will  be 
remembered  had  lately  taken  place,  as  stated  in  the  beginning 
of  this  part  of  the  Journal,]  but  he  blew  out,  (me  fit  une  scene,) 
about  the  transport,  belonging,  as  he  said,  to  his  flotilla.  I  had 
told  him  I  had  been  charged  with  that  necessary  business  by 


*  Pieces  Justificatives.  No.  24,  is  a  letter  from  Jones  of  this  date,  (June  27th,) 
to  Prince  Potemkin,  informing  him,  among  other  things,  that  he  had  given  it  in 
charge  to  a  lieutenant  to  execute  the  order  referred  to  in  the  Journal.  No.  27,  on  the 
30th,  he  informed  him  of  the  order  to  unload  at  Glauboca.  No.  28,  is  the  letter  from 
Ribas,  of  the  same  date  referred  to  in  the  Journal,  and  containing  the  offensive  intima- 
tion. He  says :  "  After  the  orders  he  had  given  on  this  subject  to  M.  le  Brigadier  et 
Chevalier  Alexiano,  his  highness  is  very  sorry  that  your  excellency  has  directed  a 
change  in  what  he  had  resolved  upon.  In  such  cases,  the  prince  marshal,  notwith- 
standing the  goodness  of  his  heart,  is  severely  rigid,  (d'une  grand  rigeur,)  and  I  make 
it  a  point  to  inform  you  of  it,  sir,  that  yon  may  be  on  your  guard  for  the  future."  No. 
29,  is  Jones'  reply  on  the  evening  of  the  same  day ;  in  which  he  says,  that  as  he  knew 
the  brigadier's  intentions  were  good,  he  took  his  letter  in  good  part ;  that  he  had  no 
knowledge  of  any  instructions  having  been  given  to  Alexiano  by  the  prince, 'and  cer- 
tainly no  desire  to  meddle  with  the  prizes,  the  reason  of  which,  he  need  not  inform 
Ribas  was  I'humeur  du  Prince  de  Nassau.  He  then  states  in  detail  what  is  substan- 
tially set  forth  in  the  Journal ;  and  mentions  that,  on  the  preceding  day,  there  had 
been  a  considerable  appearance  of  discontent  among  the  Russian  officers,  at  the  con 
"  slant  preference  given  to  the  Greeks,  and  particularly  at  the  charge  given  to  Alexiano's 
nephew  to  save  the  effects  of  the  burnt  prizes,  when  he  had,  at  the  same  time,  com- 
mand of  three  frigates  which  Admiral  Jones  had  stationed  beyond  Kinbonrn.  "  Too 
much,"  he  adds,  "has  been  said  on  a  matter  so  unimportant.  If  the  prince  marshal 
has  forgotten  the  order  he  gave  me,  I  can  recall  to  him  the  place  and  time,  and  the 
words  he  made  use  of."  He  subjoins  in  a  note  that  Potemkin  afterwards  told  Mr. 
Littlepage,  that  he  had  caused  Jones  to  be  censured  very  mal-a-propos.  He  con- 
cluded by  saying,  "  I  renounce  all  idea  of  personal  advantage  in  regard  to  the  prizes. 
Therefore  what  I  have  done  was  purely  and  only  in  the  line  of  duty.  I  hope  to  find 
more  noble  means  of  advancement.  I  know  but  one  manner  of  conducting  myself: 
and  as  I  can  never  depart  from  it,  fear  nothing." 


PAUL   JONES.  429 

the  prince  marshal ;  and  that  as  all  the  vessels  of  war  and 
transports  belonged  to  her  imperial  majesty,  and  the  transport 
in  question  was  empty  when  I  ordered  it  to  be  taken,  I  could 
not  see  that  he  had  the  least  ground  of  complaint.  He  was  mad 
with  rage  ;  but  as  the  good  of  the  service  did  not  further 
require  our  combined  operations,  I  thought  his  quarrelling  too 
puerile  to  concern  myself  about  it.*  I  took  leave  of  him,  beg- 


*  The  writer  of  the  Life  published  in  Edinburgh  has  well  remarked,  that  after  this 
time  Jones  seems  to  have  abandoned  all  hope  of  conciliating  Nassau;  and  by  what 
follows  in  the  Journal,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  latter  gave  him  no  opportunity.  A 
month  after  this,  he  gave  full  vent  to  his  feelings  in  the  following  letter  addressed  to 
Ribas,  and  probably  intended  for  the  perusal  of  Potemkin.  It  is  a  loose  copy  of  a  let- 
ter not  in  the  engrossed  Journal. 

"  Monsieur  le  Brigadier, — Having  been  at  Kinbourn  this  afternoon,  to  concert  opera- 
tions with  the  commandant  general,  I  received  at  my  return  here  a  kind  of  note  with- 
out date,  which  purports  to  be  from  you,  but  which  I  do  not  recognise  as  your  hand- 
writing. This  note  adverts  to  the  question  of  saluting  the  flag  of  the  vice  admiral ; 
but  I  am  not  aware  if  there  be  an  officer  of  this  rank  nearer  us  than  St.  Petersburgh. 
I  respect  infinitely  the  authority  and  the  character  of  his  highness  the  prince  marshal. 
I  love  good  order,  and  I  am  devoted  with  enthusiasm  to  the  welfare  of  the  empire,  but 
the  first  duty  of  a  man  is  to  respect  his  own  honour. 

•'I  have  no  wish  to  speak  of  myself,  but  circumstances  demand  it.  I  was  living  in 
America,  in  the  bosom  of  peace  and  friendship  when  his  excellency,  M.  de  Simolin, 
did  me  the  honour,  unknown  to  myself,  to  propose  me  to  her  imperial  majesty  and  the 
prince  marshal  as  commander  in  chief  on  the  Black  Sea.  I  was  too  much  flattered 
by  the  reception  of  her  majesty  to  stipulate  the  slightest  condition  on  entering  her  ser- 
vice. She  deigned  to  receive  me.  I  was  to  serve  only  under  the  command  of  the 
prince  marshal. 

"  I  imagined  myself  intended  for  another  command  than  that  which  was  given  me  ; 
but  I  looked  on  the  change  as  a  flattering  proof  of  the  confidence  of  the  prince  mar- 
shal. Never,  probably,  did  any  commanding  officer  commence  sen-ice  under  circum- 
stances more  painful  than  mine ;  but,  in  spite  of  the  restraints  imposed  on  me  by 
treacherous  colleagues,  in  spite  of  their  unceasing  efforts  to  draw  me  into  error,  and 
their  opposition  to  all  my  plans  for  the  good  of  the  service,  I  have  extricated  myself 
from  the  affair  by  the  sacrifice  of  my  own  feelings  and  interests.  I  was  a  true  phliloso- 
pher,  and  the  service  has  not  suffered.  My  firmness  and  integrity  have  supported  me 
against  their  detestable  plot  for  my  ruin ;  yet  I  have  served  as  the  cat's  paw  to  draw 
the  chesnuts  from  the  fire  for  them. 

"  I  am  much  flattered  by  the  order  of  St.  Anne  granted  me  for  my  zealous  services ; 
but  I  should  have  been  ashamed  to  receive  brilliant  rewards  for  empty  boasts. 

"  As  I  can  never  bring  myself  to  resolve  on  having  any  connexion  with  a  man  so 
detestable  as  M.  de  Nassau,  I  can  never  acknowledge  him  for  my  superior.  If  he  has 


430  PAUL  JONES. 

ging  him  to  reflect,  that  I  had  given  him  no  cause  of  displea 
sure.     I  did  not  wish  to  come  to  a  rupture  with  him  ;  but,  on 


received  the  rank  of  vice  admiral,  I  will  say  in  the  face  of  the  universe  that  he  is  un- 
worthy of  it.  It  is  now  ten  years  since  he  wished  to  serve  under  my  command.  I  have 
known  him  without  knowing  him.  (connu  sans  connoitrc.)  I  knew  that  he  was  foolish, 
(b£te,)  but  I  did  not  believe,  before  proving  it,  that  his  character  was  base  to  the  bot- 
tom; the  only  military  merit  he  possesses  is  effrontery.  The  only  thing  he  has  done, 
was  (after  tue  affair  of  the  17th  June,)  to  snatch  the  flag  of  the  capitan  pacha  from  the 
hands  of  the  Zaporavians,  who  had  stolen  it  a  long  time  before  he  came  up.  He  has 
never  shown  either  order  or  intelligence  in  the  flotilla.  Every  commander  of  a  boat, 
or  other  vessel,  was  his  own  master,  and  conducted  matters  according  to  his  own 
notions.  Hence  it  happened,  that  with  much  good  will  for  the  service,  they  bore 
down  on  the  17th  and  18th  June,  on  the  enemy's  vessels  aground  and  heeled,  hovered 
round  them  like  a  swarm  of  bees ;  and  small  as  was  our  loss,  it  cannot  be  doubted 
that  a  part  of  it  was  occasioned  by  Russian  bullets. 

"A  single  galley,  in  the  hands  of  a  good  officer,  would,  in  like  circumstances, 
suffice  to  conquer  a  ship  of  the  largest  size.  But  we  should  be  just  to  the  commander 
of  the  flotilla.  He  always  had  the  prudence  to  keep  behind  his  men;  and  in  critical 
moments  he  always  had  in  his  mind,  and  sometimes  on  his  lips,  ways  and  means  of 
retiring  beyond  the  batteries  of  Stansilaw.  He  well  knew  that  for  me  there  was  no 
retreat.  In  the  affair  between  the  flotillas,  on  the  7lh  of  June,  there  was  something 
like  military  combination ;  but  it  is  not  to  him  this  should  be  attributed.  If  he  had 
been  left  to  himself,  he  would  have  been  beaten,  at  least,  as  disgracefully  as  he  had 
been  chased  by  the  Turks  on  the  preceding  evening.  As  to  the  affair  of  the  17th 
June,  of  the  merits  of  which  he  so  greatly  boasts,  the  Turks  got  into  confusion  the 
moment  they  saw  our  squadron  under  sail  and  advancing  to  attack  them.  They  had 
set  sail,  and  the  rout  was  general  even  before  the  whole  of  our  flotilla  had  raised  their 
anchors.  The  Turkish  squadron  had  made  no  arrangement  for  fight,  but  fled  in  the 
greatest  disorder  and  trepidation  at  the  very  commencement.  I  had  given  orders  to 
advance  near  thj  vessel  of  the  capitan  pacha,  but  M.  Alexiano  thwarted  me,  and  cast 
anchor  without  my  orders,  at  the  moment  when  the  second  Turkish  ship  (the  admi- 
ral) was  striking. 

"  The  Turkish  flotilla  was  manoeuvred  with  more  skill  upon  the  shallows  on  the 
right  flank  of  our  squadron,  from  whence  they  threw  bombs,  and  sunk  the  small  fri- 
gate, the  Petit  Alexander.  The  commander  of  our  flotilla  had  paid  no  attention  to 
my  requests  to  send  a  detachment  of  the  flotilla  to  dislodge  them.  The  Brigadiers 
Alexiano  and  Corsacoff  had  assembled  and  brought  forward  batteries  for  this  purpose, 
according  to  my  orders,  in  concert  with  our  frigates  on  the  right  wing.  The  affair  of 
the  18th  was  the  result  of  the  panic  of  the  evening  before,  and  of  the  batteries  which, 
in  concert  with  you,  (Ribas,)  I  had  the  credit  of  establishing  at  the  point  of  Kinbourn. 
A  very  small  detachment  would  have  been  sufficient  to  have  secured  the  nine  vessels 
under  the  cannon  of  our  batteries,  and  out  of  the  reach  of  those  of  the  enemy.  A  good 
officer,  who  had  commanded  such  an  expedition,  would  have  known  how  to  bring  in 
these  nine  vessels,  without  having  exposed  his  people  pell-mell,  as  was  the  case,  and 


PAUL  JOIfES.  431 

the  1st  of  July,  seeing  the  day  dawn,  and  that  the  flotilla  waa 
still  far  too  distant  to  make  the  necessary  attack,*  meeting  him 


without  having  the  folly  to  destroy  ships  of  which  we  stood  so  much  in  need,  by  brand- 
cougles. 

"  I  could  not  leave  my  own  command  to  be  present  at  this  affair  ;  but  I  am  told 
that  some  who  were  there  inquired  if  M.  de  Nassau  had  not  been  at  Kinbourn  during 
the  attack. 

"  After  all,  we  owe  our  success  to  favourable  circumstances,  to  the  good  disposition, 
and  the  imposing  appearance  of  our  squadron  in  advancing  to  the  attack  on  the  17th 
June  ;  for  the  enemy  had  taken  flight  before  the  approach  of  our  floti'la,  which  was 
tardy  in  weighing  anchor,  and  got  into  confusion  from  the  beginning  of  the  movement. 
It  has  been  seen  meanwhile  that  M  .  de  Nassau,  who  did  nothing,  and  who  had  not  a 
single  man  wounded  near  him,  has  been  rewarded  as  if  he  had  performed  the  most 
heroic  actions.  Marshal  Saxe  said  to  his  troops,  —  'lam  not  one  of  those  • 

generals  who  cry  to  their  soldiers,  FALL  ON  !  I  say  to  you,  —  My  soldiers,  behold  the 
enemy,  —  LET  0s  FALL  ON.'  M.  de  Nassau  has  not  shown  that  he  is  of  the  opinion  of 
the  marshal.  Never  was  bravado  more  impudent  than  that  of  M.  de  Nassau.  To 
depart  from  truth  costs  him  nothing.  He  bad  the  effrontery  to  deceive  the  prince 
marshal  (to  whom  he  owes  the  bread  that  he  eats,)  in  saying  he  had  burnt  six  ships 
of  the  line  and  had  takeatwo.  These  pretended  ships  of  the  line  were  nothing  other 
than  the  merchant  vessels  called  caravellas.  In  time  of  peace  they  trade  between 
Constantinople  and  Egypt  ;  in  time  of  war  such  ships  are  armed,  but  always  badly. 
In  place  of  eight,  but  four  entered  the  Liman.  I  have  made  Lieutenant  Pox  measure 
the  wreck  of  two  carcasses  of  two  of  the  largest;  the  one  was  135  feet,  the  other  130 
feet  English  measure,  entire  length  of  the  decks  on  which  were  the  principal  batteries. 
Instead  of  two,  there  was  but  one  three-masted  vessel  not  burnt.  It  is  true  they  also 
spared  a  small  brigantine  in  the  barbarous  conflagration  of  June  18th.  So  we  must 
regard  this  brigantine  as  a  ship  of  the  line  taken  by  M.  de  Nassau.  This  prize  remain- 
ed aground  and  has  become  a  total  wreck.  Humanity  recoils,  indignant  and  affrighted 
at  beholding  so  many  wretched  creatures  perish  in  the  flames,  without  any  necessity. 
But  there  are  some  small  marks  of  the  goodness  of  heart  and  gratitude  which  M.  de 
Nassau  is  pleased  to  show,  to  prove  himself  worthy  of  the  kindnesses  he  lately  re- 
ceived at  Constantinople.  Now  he  is  with  the  Russians,  where  he  has  found  his 
market,  (trouv6  son  comptc.)  The  same  motives  which  induced  him  to  come  here, 
may  lead  him  back  to  Constantinople." 

There  is  much  repetition  in  this  letter,  of  what  is  found  in  the  Journal  ;  but  it  has 
been  inserted  entire,  because  it  proves  that  the  same  charges,  with  like  circumstan- 
tiality and  more  acrimony  were  urged  at  the  time,  which  were  afterwards  deliberately 
written  down  as  historical.  It  does  not  appear  whether  Ribas  showed  the  letter  to 
Potemkin  or  not;  but  by  the  middle  of  October,  Potemkin  communicated  to  Jones  her 
majesty's  orders  for  his  recall.  It  is  brought  inhere  out  of  date,  because  it  refers  to 
transac.ions  already  known  to  the  reader. 

*  To  take  some  galleys  at  anchor  under  Oczakow,  supposed  to  be  weakly  manned 


432  PAUL   JONES. 

in  his  chaloupe,  I  asked,  '  If  he  did  not  think  it  time  to  begin 
the  attack  ?'  *  Is  it  of  me  you  thus  inquire  ?'  he  replied  ;  '  I 
have  nothing  to  say  to  you  on  the  subject.'  After  a  reply  so 
uncivil,  and  so  publicly  made,  it  was  impossible  I  could  have  any 
farther  intercourse  with  him. 

"  On  the  18th  June,  in  giving  an  account  to  the  prince  mar- 
shal of  the  fate  of  the  nine  vessels  run  aground  in  coming  out 
of  the  Liman,  upon  the  shallows  opposite  the  battery  and  block 
fort  on  the  tongue  of  land  of  Kinbourn,  I  took  the  liberty  to  pro- 
pose to  him  to  get  the  Wolodimer,  which  had  port-holes  for 
70  pieces  of  cannon,  and  the  large  frigate  Alexander,  which 
might  have  carried  50  pieces,  completely  armed,  that  at  the 
first  opportunity  the  squadron  of  Cherson  might  join  that  of 
Sevastopole ;  but  his  highness  gave  no  orders  for  this  purpose 
till  the  month  of  September  ;  and  the  admiralty  was  so  slow  in 
acting,  that  the  vessels  were  not  equipped  by  the  18th  October, 
when  I  was  recalled  to  St.  Fetersburgh  by  an  order  from  her 
imperial  majesty. 

"  The  fleet  of  the  capitan  pacha  having  sailed  on  the  28th 
of  June,  had  a  rencounter  with  that  of  Sevastopole,  which  had 
come  out  some  days  before  ;  but  the  Turkish  fleet  being  much 
stronger  than  that  of  Russia,  the  latter  fled,  and  had  the  good 
fortune  to  get  back  to  Sevastopole  without  loss,  having  no  more 
than  six  or  seven  men  killed  and  wounded,  which  shows  that  the 
affair  was  neither  close  nor  warm. 

"After  the  affair  of  the  18th  of  June,  the  greater  part  of  our 
flotilla  remained  several  days  at  anchor  between  Kinbourn  and 
the  block  fort  on  the  end  of  the  tongue  of  land.  On  the  20th, 
the  wind  being  strong  and  from  the  west,  a  Turkish  brigantine, 
equipped  as  a  fire-ship  put  off  towards  Kinbourn.  The  enemy 
set  fire  to  her  as  they  abandoned  her,  and  she  was  consumed. 
It  is  surprising  that  the  Russian  seamen  and  pilots  could  be  so 


Jones  had  orders  from  Potemkin  to  assist  Nassan,  in  whatever  lay  in  his  power. 
PUces  Justtficatives.    No.  30. 


PAUL   JONES.  433 

profoundly  ignorant  respecting  the  anchorage,  currents,  and 
depth  of  the  Liman,  and,  above  all,  at  the  entrance  into  the 
canal,  (Fahz-water,)  and  in  the  road  between  Oczakow  and 
Beresane.  At  first  not  a  single  commander  in  the  flotilla  durst 
venture  to  cast  an  anchor. 

"Being  at  Kinbourn  on  the  28th  June,  General  Suvorrof 
spoke  to  me  of  the  unpleasant  circumstance  of  not  being  able 
to  cut  off  the  communication  between  Oczakow  and  Beresane. 
Having  sounded  myself,  I  informed  him  that  this  was  quite  as 
practicable  as  it  was  necessary,  and  I  would  place  the  frigates 
there  instantly,  if  he  would  only  require  me  to  do  so.  He  did 
not  hesitate,  and  the  same  day  I  placed  three  frigates  there. 
M.  Alexiano  did  all  he  could  to  prevent  this ;  and  when  he  saw 
the  frigates  set  off,  prophesied  that  I  need  not  expect  to  see 
them  return.  He  carried  his  intrigues  so  far,  that  the  prince 
marshal  wrote  me  a  warning  letter  on  the  29th,  and  on  the  1st 
July  a  peremptory  order  to  withdraw  them.*  During  the  short 
time  they  were  there  they  took  two  Turkish  armed  chaloupes 
and  a  batteau  laden  with  powder  and  shot ;  and  cut  off  the 
enemy's  communication  between  Oczakow  and  Beresane. 

"  The  prince  marshal  had  not  been  satisfied  with  the  con- 
duct of  the  flotilla  in  the  affair  of  attacking  Oczakow  on  the  1st 
July,  which  was  conducted  in  a  very  irregular  manner,  and  at 
too  great  a  distance.  The  most  advanced  charge  was  that  of 
the  battery  commanded  by  M.  Akmatoff,  who  was  never  less 
than  500  toises  distant  from  the  enemy.  On  the  10th  of  July, 
the  prince  marshal  sent  the  prince  of  Nassau  to  Sevastopole,  to 
learn  if  the  squadron  had  been  much  damaged  in  the  rencoun- 
ter with  the  Turkish  fleet.  Immediately  after  the  departure 
of  the  prince  of  Nassau,  the  prince  marshal  gave  the  Chevalier 
Ribas  the  command  of  the  flotilla,  with  orders  to  go  to  Kin- 
bourn,  to  receive  on  board  the  troops  he  destined  to  make  a 
descent  on  the  island  of  Beresane.  At  the  same  time  he  order- 


*  The  official  letters  between  Potemkin  and  Jones,  among  the  Pieces  Juscificatives, 
•how  tha*  ao  blame  could  have  been,  or  was,  attached  to  him  in  this  matter. 

54 


434  PAUL   JONES. 

ed  me  to  establish  a  line  of  blockade  between  that  island  and 
Oczakow.  I  stationed  five  frigates,  carrying  twelve  pounders, 
in  the  road  for  that  purpose. 

"  On  the  14th,  I  was  ordered  to  inspect  the  entrance  of  the 
Liman.  I  immediately  went  to  Kinbourn  to  have  an  under- 
standing with  General  Suvorrofand  the  Brigadier  de  Ribas. 
Though  the  brigadier  had  been  incessantly  occupied  since  the 
departure  of  the  prince  of  Nassau  in  bringing  the  crews  of  the 
flotilla  to  some  sort  of  order,  he  had  not  yet  completed  this  task. 
So  great  was  the  confusion  that  reigned,  that  he  could  not  find 
in  any  vessel  five  soldiers  belonging  to  the  same  company  ;  and 
the  officers  knew  not  where  to  look  for  their  men.  This  re- 
tarded the  embarkation  of  the  troops  destined  for  the  descent 
till  the  16th.  The  prince  marshal  was  so  much  displeased  with 
this  delay,  that  on  the  17th,  he  gave  orders  to  land  the  troops, 
that  they  might  join  his  army  before  Oczakow,  and  that  the 
flotilla  should  return  into  the  Liman,  as  well  as  the  five  frigates 
I  had  posted  for  the  blockade. 

"  From  the  commencement  of  the  projected  expedition  against 
Beresane,  M.  Ribas  had  requested  me  to  conduct  the  flotilla 
and  the  descent  of  the  troops.  Though  a  man  of  much  talent, 
he  had  not  the  misplaced  conceit  of  some  persons  who  readily 
take  upon  them  things  far  beyond  their  capacity.  I  told  him, 
'  He  well  knew  I  ought  to  have  commanded  the  flotilla  as  well 
as  the  squadron,  from  the  beginning  of  the  campaign,  but  that 
my  gratitude  for  the  gracious  reception  accorded  me  by  her 
imperial  majesty,  together  with  the  very  delicate  state  in  which 
I  had  found  affairs,  had  induced  me  to  sacrifice  my  feelings, 
and  even  greatly  to  hazard  my  reputation,  for  the  good  of  the 
empire;  that  I  could  never  so  far  humble  myself  as  to  request 
the  direction  of  the  flotilla,  but  if  the  prince  marshal  thought 
proper  to  propose  it  to  me,  I  would  do  my  best  to  make  the 
most  of  it  possible.' 

"  On  the  afternoon  of  the  17th,  the  prince  marshal  fairly  pro- 
posed to  give  me  the  command  of  the  flotilla.  Plis  highness 
info'med  me  his  intention  was  to  have  Oczakow  attacked  a 


PAUL   JONES.  435 

second  time.  I  replied,  that  I  was  disposed  to  execute  with 
zeal  whatever  he  might  think  proper  for  the  good  of  the  service ; 
but  that  to  attack  with  advantage  it  was  necessary  to  come  to 
close  quarters,  and  to  advance  in  better  order  than  on  the  1st 
July.  He  was  of  the  same  opinion,  and  requested  me  to  come 
ashore  next  day,  that  we  might  concert  together  the  plan  of 
attack. 

"  I  did  not  fail  to  comply  with  the  orders  of  the  prince  mar- 
shal, but  his  highness  spoke  no  more  of  the  flotilla.  I  remained 
to  dinner  and  supper,  and  afterwards&returned  on  board  of  my 
ship.  The  prince  of  Nassau  having  returned  some  days  before 
from  Sevastopole,  had  intrigued  with  the  Prince  de  Ligne  ;  and 
the  prince  marshal  had  restored  him  to  the  command  of  the 
flotilla. 

"  On  the  18th  June,  I  had  been  ordered  to  despatch  the  five 
frigates  which  had  returned  into  the  Liman,  to  be  refitted  at 
Glauboca,  en  batterie  for  sea  service.  I  sent  them  off  at  day- 
break on  the  19th,  having  taken  the  greater  part  of  their  crews 
for  service  in  the  gun-boats  and  bomb-vessels  which  the  prince 
marshal  proposed  to  place  under  my  command.  On  the  20th,  I 
received  twenty-one  gun-boats,  each  carrying  a  single  piece, 
from  eighteen  to  thirty-two  pounders  ;  and  five  bomb-vessels, 
each  carrying  a  mortar,  of  which  four  were  of  three  poods,  and 
one  of  five  poods.*  The  same  day  the  prince  marshal  having 
established  his  head  quarters  to  the  right  of  his  army  upon  the 
shores  of  the  Black  Sea,  (he  had  hitherto  been  on  the  shores  of 
the  Liman,  on  the  left  wing,)  pointed  out  to  me  two  of  the 
enemy's  gun-boats,  stationed  close  by  the  fort  of  Hassan  Pacha, 
and  the  Turkish  lines  on  the  side  of  Beresane.  He  was  per- 
suaded that  they  would  attempt  to  come  out  during  the  night 
with  despatches,  and  inquired  of  me  if  it  were  not  possible  to 
capture  them.  As  his  highness  appeared  to  attach  great  impor- 
tance to  this  service,  I  undertook  it. 


*  A  pood,  or  pond,  is  a  Russian  weight,  equal  to  36  Ibs.  English  weight. 


436  PAUL   JONES. 

"  I  returned  on  board  the  Wolodimer,  from  whence,  at  eight 
in  the  evening,  I  set  off  with  five  armed  ehaloupes.  I  made  five 
gun-boats  follow,  as  a  measure  of  precaution  in  case  the  Turks 
had  attempted  to  make  a  sortie,  as  their  ehaloupes  sailed  much 
faster  than  ours.  I  found  one  of  the  Turkish  gun-boats  aground, 
hauled  up,  and  almost  dry  on  the  sands  adjoining  the  battery, 
and  on  an  intrench  ment  the  enemy  had  cast  up  on  the  water's 
edge.  It  was  impossible  to  get  it  afloat  under  the  terrible  fire 
which  we  sustained  from  all  the  lines  and  batteries  on  the  shore. 
The  other  gun-boat  lay  ju3t  afloat,  right  against  the  fort  of  Has- 
san Pacha,  to  the  south.  Lieutenant  Edwards  boarded  this 
vessel,  and  cut  her  cables ;  but  having  had  several  of  his  men 
wounded,  and  being  deserted  by  one  of  the  ehaloupes,  he  was 
obliged  to  give  up  the  attempt,  lest  he  should  be  left  by  the 
other  chaloupe  also.  During  this  time  I  had  made  some  efforts 
to  get  the  other  Turkish  boat  afloat.  I  now  rowed  quickly  to 
the  assistance  of  Mr.  Edwards,  but  the  night  was  dark  and 
he  was  already  out  of  sight,  when  I  boarded  the  vessel  in  which 
he  had  been.  I  had  several  men  wounded  around  me;  but,  in 
defiance  of  the  enemy,  I  hauled  the  vessel  out,  and  stationed  it 
right  opposite  the  head  quarters  of  the  prince  marshal. 

"  On  the  21st,  at  daybreak,  I  sailed  with  the  Wolodimer, 
followed  by  all  the  vessels  of  the  squadron  that  yet  remained 
with  me,  and  twenty-five  gun-boats  and  bomb-vessels  that  had 
been  placed  under  my  commaud.  The  object  of  this  movement 
was  again  to  blockade  Oczakow  by  sea,  and  to  cut  off  the  com- 
munication between  that  place  and  Beresane.  To  accomplish 
this  object,  I  stationed  the  Wolodimer  and  the  Alexander  to 
blockade  the  channel  at  the  entrance  of  the  Liman,  and  I  con- 
tinued the  same  line  of  blockade  into  the  road,  by  placing  the 
smaller  vessels  there.  As  the  bomb-vessels  and  gun-boats  had 
not  water  casks,  the  prince  marshal,  who  wished  to  see  these  craft 
opposite  his  head  quarters,  made  wells  be  dug  on  shore  for  the 
accommodation  of  the  crews  ;  and  on  the  24th,  ordered  my  offi- 
cer dujour  to  have  the  vessels  stationed  near  the  shore.  I  knew 
nothing  of  this  change,  for  I  had  placed  them  the  previous  night 


PAUL   JONES.  437 

in  line,  and  far  enough  off  to  be  in  safety.  On  the  25th,  the 
wind  was  from  the  south,  but  blew  moderately.  After  dinner  I 
went  to  head  quarters  to  make  a  visit  to  the  prince  marshal, 
and  found,  to  my  great  astonishment,  that  half  the  boats  were 
cast  ashore,  and  the  other  half  in  the  greatest  danger.  I  set 
to  work  instantly,  with  my  chaloupe,  to  haul  off,  and  bring  to 
anchor  all  the  vessels  possible ;  and  by  means  of  anchors  and 
cables,  for  which  I  sent  to  the  squadron,  we  saved  them  all,  ex- 
cept six  gun-boats,  which  went  to  pieces,  and  filled  with  sand. 
On  the  26th,  the  prince  marshal  wrote  me  by  his  brigadier  du 
jour,  to  inform  me  that  I  was  at  liberty  to  place  the  boats  I  had 
saved  where  I  pleased.  I  placed  them  near  the  tongue  of  land 
of  Kinbourn,  where  they  had  a  sheltered  haven,  and  also  wells 
for  the  accommodation  of  the  men.  They  sustained  no  farther 
injury  during  the  time  they  remained  under  my  command.  At 
this  time,  two  chaloupes  or  small  cutters  were  placed  under  my 
orders,  of  which  each  carried  two  licornes,  of  forty-eight  pounds 
calibre  in  the  fore  part,  and  six  falconets  on  the  sides.  Shortly 
afterwards,  I  got  two  larger  cutters,  carrying  each  two  mortars 
of  five  poods. 

"  On  the  31st  July,  the  capitan  pacha  again  made  his 
appearance  with  his  fleet,  followed  by  several  vessels  which  he 
had  not  when  he  went  off.  His  advanced  guard,  composed  of 
his  frigates,  bomb-vessels,  and  small  craft,  cast  anchor  near 
Beresane,  whilst  his  large  squadron  of  ships  of  the  line  resumed 
their  old  position.  The  prince  marshal  ordered  me  to  bring 
back  my  small  vessels  to  assist  in  blocking  up  the  passage  at 
the  entrance  of  the  Liman  ;  and  the  prince  of  Nassau  was 
ordered  to  block  up  the  road  with  his  flotilla,  and  thus  cut  off 
the  communication  of  the  Turkish  small  vessels  by  the  shallows 
to  the  south  of  Fort  Hassan  Pacha. 

[Two  versions  are  here  given,  apparently  by  accident,  of 
the  same  circumstance.  The  latter  is  presumed  to  be  the 
most  corref* ,  and  the  former  is,  therefore,  omitted  in  this  trans- 
lation."' 


438  PAUL   JONES. 

"  The  prince  of  Nassau  hoisted  a  white  flag  with  a  blue 
cross  on  one  of  the  galleys,  on  leaving  the  Liman  ;  and  that 
galley  having  passed  under  the  stern  of  the  Wolodirner  on  the 
1st  of  August,  he  pretended  that  I  ought  to  salute  him  as  vice 
admiral.  1st,  When  I  hoisted  my  flag,  to  avoid  the  idle  vanity 
of  exacting  a  salute,  I  did  it  at  night ;  and  the  Prince  de  Nas- 
sau, being  only  a  simple  volunteer,  did  not  offer  to  salute  it. 
2d,  An  officer  without  my  orders,  corning  from  Cherson,  had 
saluted  the  prince  without  my  authority,  but  they  did  not  give 
him  a  single  gun  in  return.  3d,  The  prince  had  not  received 
the  grade  of  vice  admiral  in  the  service  of  her  imperial  ma- 
jesty. 4th,  I  had  no  orders  from  the  prince  marshal  to  salute 
the  Prince  de  Nassau.  5th,  The  latter  had  applied,  in  the  last 
war  between  France  and  England,  to  serve  with  me,  and,  assu- 
redly, not  as  my  commander ;  for,  though  he  has  made  a  voy- 
age round  the  world,  he  does  not  yet  understand  the  compass. 
6th,  On  saluting  an  officer  of  a  superior  grade,  it  is  necessary 
to  go  on  board  his  flag-ship  to  make  a  report  and  receive  orders  ; 
and  I  had  in  no-wise  deserved  so  grave  a  punishment  as  to  be 
put  under  the  orders  of  the  Prince  de  Nassau.  Had  the  prince 
marshal  been  dissatisfied  with  my  conduct  on  this  occasion,  he 
would  have  mentioned  it  to  me,  or  issued  an  order.  The  prince 
of  Nassau,  however,  has  endeavoured  to  make  it  appear,  at 
court  especially,  that  his  difference  with  me  had  no  other  foun- 
dation, than  in  ray  not  choosing  to  salute  his  flag.  He  lowered 
it  two  or  three  days  afterwards.  How  should  he  have  done  so, 
if  he  had  been  vice  admiral  ?* 

"  The  capitan  pachat  came  out  from  day  to  day,  to  sound 


*  Deeming  it  improper  to  garble  the  Journal,  the  whole  of  this  logic  is  inserted. 
It  may  be  inferred,  that  Jones  was  mistaken  as  to  Nassau's  representations  at  court ; 
and  that  his  dwelling  on  this  point  indicates  a  morbid  feeling.  But  he  may  have  been 
correct.  At  all  events,  he  was  right  in  not  saluting  him ;  smd  Nassau  was  weak  and 
arrogant  in  claiming  that  compliment. 

t  This  old  gentleman,  for  whom  Jones  always  expresses  great  respect,  as  will  have 
been  observsd,  was  worthy  of  it  from  any  generous  foe.  He  had  returned  from 


PAUL   JONES.  439 

and  reconnoitre,  in  his  kirlangitz,  which  sailed  like  the  wind, 
and  always  displayed  an  admiral's  flag.  As  the  block  fort  am; 
battery  on  the  tongue  of  land  at  Kinbourn  were  only  construct- 
ed of  bags  of  sand,  and  were  neither  protected  by  ditch  noi 
palisade,  I  was  afraid  that  the  capitan  pacha  might  try  to  carry 
them  by  a  sudden  descent,  which  he  could  have  done  by  land 
ing  five  hundred  men. 

"  General  Suvorrof  had  been  dangerously  wounded  in  a 
sortie  made  by  the  garrison  of  Oczakow,  and  had  come  to  Kin- 
bourn.  I  convinced  him  that  the  block  fort  and  battery  seemed 
to  be  menaced,  and  as  he  had  a  greater  quantity  of  chevaux  de 
frize  at  Kinbourn,  than  he  required,  I  suggested  that  he  should 
employ  what  was  superfluous  in  surrounding  the  block  fort  and 
battery.  The  general  gave  orders  accordingly,  and  I  ranged 
all  my  gun-boats  and  bomb-vessels  hard  by  the  strip  of  sand 
between  the  block  fort  and  the  battery.  The  sand  served  them 
as  a  parapet,  so  that  there  was  a  line  of  fire  continued  from  the 
point  quite  to  the  battery.  The  small  craft  were,  besides, 
always  ready  to  change  their  position  at  the  first  movement  of 
the  enemy,  and  I  placed  the  squadron  so  advantageously  to 
communicate  with  the  block  fort  and  the  battery,  without  con- 


Egypt,  where  he  had  been  engaged  in  pacifying  the  country,  distracted  by  the 
intrigues  of  the  Beys  IVahim  and  Amurath.  One  of  Jones'  biographers,  who  has 
translated  the  Journal  of  this  campaign,  (and  his  translation  has  been  used,  correcting 
some  singular  and  very  ignorant  blunders,)  has  inferred  that  Jones  was  three-fourths 
a  Russian  before  he  left  St.  Petersburgh,  because  he  was  civil  to  the  empress ;  and 
afterwards,  that  he  was  half  a  Turk,  because  he  did  honour  to  the  old  Turkish  admi 
ral's  skill  and  courage.  Such  stuff  is  of  a  piece  with  Tooke's  statement  in  the  Life 
of  Catharine  II.  that  in  the  affair  of  the  18th  June,  "  Prince  Nassau  displayed  great 
bravery  in  this  action ;  but  the  victory  was  chiefly  owing  to  the  talents  of  Captain 
Fanshaw,  an  English  officer,  (of  course,)  with  two  French  officers,  Varage  and  Ver- 
oois,  and  above  all,  to  the  Dutch  Captain  Winter."*  Either  this  person,  who  pre- 
tended to  write  a  history  including  this  campaign,  was  so  culpably  ignorant  as  not  to 
know  that  Jones  commanded  the  squadron  in  the  Liman,  or  he  still  more  culpably 
omitted  to  mention  his  name. 


*  Life  of  Catharine  II.  Vol.  III.  p.  333.    Am.  Ed . 


440  PAUL   JONES. 

fining  their  fire,  and  to  keep  back  the  enemy  by  a  cross  fire,  on 
their  entering  the  channel  of  the  Liman,  that,  though  we  were 
very  weak  compared  with  the  Turkish  fleet,  the  capitan  pacha 
never  either  attempted  to  make  a  descent,  or  to  force  the  pas- 
sage of  the  entrance  of  the  Liman. 

"  The  prince  marshal  having  ordered  rear  admiral  Woyno- 
witch  to  sail  from  Sevastopole  with  the  fleet  under  his  com- 
mand, and  that  officer  having  raised  obstacles,  because  his  force 
was  not,  he  conceived,  powerful  enough  to  attack  that  under 
the  command  of  the  capitan  pacha,  his  highness  sent  me  a  let- 
ter, written  by  his  chief  secretary,  Brigadier  Popoft',  on  the  19th 
August,  (old  style,)  proposing  that  I  should  go  to  Sevastopole  to 
take  command  of  the  fleet.*     It  may  be  remembered  that  I  was 
brought  to  Russia  to  command  all  the  naval  force  in  the  Black 
Sea,  consequently  this  proposition  did  not  surprise  me.     Had 
the  prince  marshal  ordered  me  to  go,  I  would  have  proceeded 
immediately,  but  I  would  not  have  it  appear  that  I  sought  to  be 
sent.     1st,  My  naval  signals  had  not  yet  been  translated  into 
the  Russian  language,  as  no  attention  had  been  given  to  my 
request  for  a  person  capable  of  translating  them.     2dly,  The 
naval  signals  used  in  that  fleet  were  imperfect  and  very  limited. 
3dly,  I  was  acquainted  with  no  one  in  the  fleet,  and  I  was  aware 
that  the  prince  marshal  wished  that  it  should  come  out  the  very 
day  after   my  arrival  at  Sevastopole.     4thly,  That  fleet  had 
been  compelled  to  fly  before  that  of  the  capitan  pacha,  at  a  time 
when  he  had  two  thousand  fewer  good  seamen.     5thly,  The 


*  By  the  Pieces  Justificatvces,  it  appears  that  on  this  day  Popoffwrote  him,  that  the 
prince  marshal  seemed  disposed  to  send  Jones  to  Sevastopole  and  give  him  the  com- 
mand of  the  fleet.  "Ishould  likemuchto  know, "he  said,  "what  your  excellency  thinks 
of  it,  in  order  that,  in  case  his  highness  should  revert  to  that  idea,  I  may  speak  to  him 
more  pertinently,  of  your  sentiments  on  the  matter."  On  the  same  day  Jones  replied, 
expressing  his  entire  devotion  to  the  service  of  the  empress,  and  leadiness  to  obey  the 
orders  of  the  prince  marshal.  There  is  nothing  in  his  letter  to  indicate  any  disinclina- 
tion for  the  duty.  It  is  strictly  formal  and  proper,  though  it  seems  from  what  follows 
in  the  Journal,  that  he  had  objections  to  undertaking  it  immediately.  It  popped  out 
of  Potemkin's  head,  as  it  had  popped  off  from  it,  if  we  may  be  allowed  a  villanoua 
paronomasia. 


PAUL   JONES.  441 

fleet  at  Sevastopole  was  as  weak  as  before,  but  that  of  the 
capitan  pacha  was  stronger  in  craft,  and  had  all  the  men  re- 
placed that  had  been  lost  in  the  affair  of  the  Liman.  6thly,  I 
had  just  received  preparatory  orders  from  the  prince  marshal  to 
attack  Fort  Hassan  Pacha  ;*  and  I  hoped  to  show  him  the  dif- 
ference between  my  fashion  of  attack  and  that  of  the  1st  of  July. t 
t  replied,  in  answer  to  his  letter,  that  being  entirely  devoted  to 
the  good  of  the  state,  his  highness  would  find  me  eager  to  fulfil 
his  orders.  It  was  said,  that  some  days  afterwards  the  prince 
marshal  sent  positive  orders  to  Admiral  Woynowitch  to  come 
out,  but  that  he  always  found  reasons  for  not  dealing  farther 
with  the  capitan  pacha. 

"  On  the  30th  August,  the  Turks  took  a  small  lodka,  freighted 
with  water  melons,  belonging  to  the  merchants  of  Kinbourn. 
In  coming  down  the  Liman  the  people  on  board  had  been  foolish 
enough  to  pass  too  close  to  Oczakow.  To  '  punish  the  Turks' 
for  this,  the  prince  of  Nassau,  at  evening,  made  his  flotilla  ad- 
vance to  assault  Oczakow !  I  sent  my  secretary  to  head  quarters, 
and  in  the  meanwhile  assembled  the  commanders  of  divisions 
of  my  gun-boats  and  bomb-vessels,  and  ordered  them  to  bring 
forward  their  divisions,  and  form  in  line  of  battle  between  the 
squadron  and  Oe?:akow,  ready  to  attack  the  fort  of  Hassan 
Pacha  the  moment  orders  should  arrive. 

"  Upon  the  return  of  the  capitan  pacha,  M.  Littlepage, 
chamberlain  to  the  king  of  Poland,  being  then  with  the  prince 
marshal,  had  solicited  and  obtained  leave  to  command  a  division 
of  my  gun-boats.  Night  being  come  on,  the  chiefs  of  division 
wishing  to  bring  forward  their  boats,  found  that  thirteen  of  them 
had  already  quitted  their  posts,  against  the  most  positive  orders 
to  make  no  movement  without  their  commanders  of  division. 
This  movement  had  been  occasioned  by  the  rashness  of  a  Greek 


*  His  orders  on  the  18th,  were  to  advance  with  his  gun-boats  and  bomb-ketches 
against  this  fort,  as  soon  as  the  land  batteries  began  to  play  on  the  fortress  of  Oczakow. 
The  order  is  No.  46  of  the  Pieces  Justificatites. 

t  On  the  19th,  he  transmitted  a  plan  for  the  approbation  of  the  prince.  Pieces  Jus- 
tificatives,  47. 

55 


442  PAUL  JONES. 

lieutenant  belonging  to  the  division  of  M.  Littlepage.  The 
boat  of  this  lieutenant  had  fired  eight  shots  against  the  place, 
and  another  six,  but  none  of  the  rest  had  fired.  As  this  lieu- 
tenant was  the  most  to  blame,  I  deprived  him  of  his  command, 
and  sent  him  to  head  quarters,  which  was  required  by  the  prince 
marshal. 

"  The  prince  of  Nassau,  who  had  very  idly  wasted  a  great 
deal  of  ammunition,  pretended  that  rny  boats  had  prevented 
him  from  taking  the  whole  Turkish  flotilla  !*  The  Greek  lieu- 


i 

*  Here  several  letters  are  referred  to,  belonging  to  the  Pi6ces  Justificatives.  No.  50 
is  dated  September  1st,  being  a  letter  from  Ribas  to  Jones,  informing  him  that  the 
prince  marshal  did  not  know  whether  the  commandants  of  the  divisions  which  had  so 
foolishly  wasted  powder  in  firing  at  Oczakow  at  so  great  a  distance,  were  present  at 
the  time  ;  and  that  he  had  simply  directed  him  (Ribas)  to  suggest  that  a  good  police 
must  be  preserved  in  the  boats,  which  it  would  be  less  easy  to  keep  up  by  diminishing 
the  number  of  divisions.  The  brigadier  adds:  "  I  have  advised  Mavro-Maichailo  to 
drink  less ;  to  be  more  subordinate,  and  to  keep  himself  quiet."  The  postscript  states, 
that  "  The  prince  wishes  to  know  why,  without  orders,  these  boats  have  been  uselessly 
employed  against  the  place,  wasting  a  great  quantity  of  ammunition  really  valuable,  aud 
how  much  of  it  they  expended."  Jones  says,  in  a  note:  "  The  prince  occasioned  this 
himself,  by  allowing  subalterns  to  come  and  talk  to  him,  and  encouraging  them  in  op- 
posing their  superiors."  No.  51  is  a  letter  of  the  same  date,  from  the  rear  admiral  to 
Ribas,  in  reply,  stating  what  is  set  forth  in  the  text  of  the  Journal.  The  Greek  lieu- 
tenant's name  was  Clapakis,  who,  with  the  sub-lieutenant  Saneftsky,  were  the  only 
officers  who  directed  the  foolish  firing  against  Oczakow.  The  rest  of  the  letter  affords 
details,  which  show  that  the  rear  admiral  was  blameless ;  but  which  would  be  here 
irrelevant.  No.  53  is  a  letter  from  Mr.  Littlepage,  to  the  grand  general  of  Poland, 
dated  on  the  3d,  he  says:  "  I  am  very  sorry  that  I  could  not  find  an  opportunity  last 
evening  of  explaining  to  you  the  history  of  the  30th  August,  which  seems  to  have  been 
very  erroneously  represented  to  the  prince.  What  passed  was,  in  a  few  words,  as 
follows :  As  soon  as  we  saw  that  the  firing  at  night  of  the  Prince  de  Nassau  was  sus- 
tained by  the  artillery  on  shore,  the  rear  admiral  assembled  his  commandants  of  divi- 
sion, to  receive  the  orders  and  disposition  which  he  expected  on  the  part  of  the  prince. 
But  these  orders  not  arriving,  he  despatched  a  chaloupe  to  the  land,  and  ordered  us  to 
go  and  cause  our  respective  divisions  to  advance  and  come  to  form  line  at  anchor 
to  the  north  of  the  Wolodimer.  On  arriving  near  the  point  of  Kinbourn,  we 
saw  with  astonishment  that  thirteen  boats  had  already  left  their  posts,  against  the  most 
positive  and  repeated  orders,  not  to  make  any  movement  without  their  chiefs  of  divi- 
sion. We  caused  the  gun-boats  and  chaloupes  which  remained  in  the  prescribed  order 
to  advance,  and  went  thence  to  seek  the  others,  under  the  cannon  of  the  place.  Bv 
midnight  we  had  found  all  but  two.  which  we  were  told  had  mac'e  sail  to  regain  thr- 


PAUL   JONES.  443 

tenant  wlum  I  had  disgraced,  instead  of  being  punished,  was 
promoted  to  the  command  of  a  double  chaloupe,  mounting  two 
aubusiers,  that  would  throw  96  |>ouiids  weight  of  balls.  M. 



squadron.  None  of  these  boats  had  tired,  though  the  Turkish  bullets  had  passed 
through  several  of  them.  We  returned  very  late  to  the  Wolodimer,  when  the  admi- 
ral told  us  to  resume  our  ancient  posts.  The  firing  had  nearly  ceased  on  all  sides,  and 
the  wind  having  become  fresh,  we  expected  every  moment  the  return  of  the  two 
missing  boats,  which  did  not  appear  until  the  morning  to  leeward.  Chaloupes  were 
sent  to  tow  them  to  their  place,  and  as  they  owned  that  one  had  fired  six  and  the 
other  eight  shots,  the  admiral  deposed  their  commanders.  The  officer,  Clapakis, 
confessing  himself  most  to  blame,  lie  pardoned  the  other,  and  sent  him  ashore,  where 
the  prince  has  given  him.  it  is  said,  the  command  of  a  double  chaloupe.  With  all  the 
submission  we  owe  to  the  prince,  this  example  is  pernicious  to  discipline.  But  what 
does  honour  to  the  presence  of  mind  of  M.  the  Prince  de  Nassau,  i^his  having  profited 
by  this  small  circumstance  to  make  a  story  out  of  it,  and  ascribes  to  it  the  bad  success 
of  his  expedition.  How  ?  Can  fourteen  shots,  fired  almost  out  of  gun-shot  distance, 
have  deranged  the  operations  of  his  line,  which  was  acting,  or  rather  ougltt  to  have 
been,  against  a  part  of  the  town  absolutely  opposite  ?  Truly  his  prudence  is  praise- 
worthy. I  remember  that  in  the  affair  of  July  1st,  the  fire  of  all  his  flotilla  did  not  pre- 
vent Paul  Jones  from  going  in  front  with  his  chaloupe,  and  withdrawing  from  the 
flames  a  Turkish  galley,  which  was  struck  by  several  of  our  bullets  while  he  was 
towing  her. 

"  For  the  rest,  all  this  is  too  contemptible  to  merit  attention.  For  what  has  hap- 
pened, personally  disagreeable  to  myself  in  this  Nassaurian  cabal,  I  have  little  to  say 
about  it.  I  love  and  esteem  the  Prince  de  Potemkin.  If  he  sees  fit  that  I  should  re- 
tain command,  I  will  endeavour  to  acquit  myself  for  the  best ;  but  I  do  not  wish  that 
the  kindness  he  may  be  disposed  to  show  to  me,  should  prove  in  the  smallest  degree 
prejudicial  to  his  service.  I  entreat  him  to  explain  himself  on  this  point  with  frank- 
ness. I  have  nothing  to  lose  or  gain  here ;  for  I  am  neither  engaged  in  the  war,  as  a 
necessary  man  like  Paul  Jones,  nor  as  a  necessitous  one,  like  the  Prince  de  Nassau." 

It  will  be  seen  that  M.  Littlepage  now  stood  in  need  of  some  of  his  own  good  advice ; 
or  rather  that  he  had  found  how  impossible  it  was  to  follow  it,  from  personal  expe- 
rience. On  the  15th,  we  find  he  had  resolved  to  withdraw  from  the  service.  His 
letter  to  the  rear  admiral  was  as  follows :  "  My  dear  Sir — The  resolution  I  have  taken 
to  depart,  and  return  to  Warsaw,  is  not  so  precipitate  as  yon  appear  to  think,  if  you 
will  please  to  recall  to  mind  my  last  conversations  with  you.  In  a  word,  I  found  my- 
self in  a  situation  where  I  might  lose  much,  without  gaining  any  thing ;  but  I  am  not 
so  unreasonable  as  to  complain  of  Prince  Potemkin,  who  expresses  regret  at  my  de- 
parture, and  wishes  to  retain  me.  He  has  spoken  to  me  of  his  project  of  sending  you 
to  attack  the  capitan  pacha,  and  had  the  air  of  not  being  contented,  though  he  was 
singularly  struck  with  my  reasons  to  the  contrary.  I  advised  him  to  limit  his  operations 
to  the  siege  of  Oczakow,  and  to  employ  your  force  in  blocking  the  Liman.  He  re- 
plied, '  the  Liman  is  sufficiently  blocked.'  '  In  what  way  ?'  I  asked.  '  Do  you  not 


444  PAUL   JONES. 

Littlepage  gave  a  particular  account  of  the  whole  affair  in  a 
letter  to  the  grand  general  of  Poland. 

"  A  few  days  after  this,  the  prince  marshal  sent  rear  admiral 
Mordwinoff  on  board  the  Wolodimer,  to  assemble  all  the  cap- 
tains and  master  pilots  of  the  squadron,  to  hold  a  council  on  the 
means  of  effecting  a  junction  between  the  squadron  of  Cherson 
and  the  fleet  of  Sevastopole.  It  was  said  that  the  prince  mar- 
shal had  earnestly  entreated  this  officer  to  take  the  affair  upon 
himself,  and  that  he  had  positively  declined  it.  I  can  say 
nothing  on  this  head ;  I  only  know  that  it  was  a  delicate  step  in 
relation  to  me,  to  send  another  officer  on  board  my  ship  to  hold 
a  council ;  and,  above  all,  without  having  apprised  me  either 
by  speech  or  writing.  If  I  had  been  stickling,  I  would  have  put 
this  officer  under  arrest,  as  he  could  show  no  authority  nor  pre- 
cedent for  holding  a  council  where  I  commanded.  But  as  I 
was  influenced  by  the  good  of  the  service  above  every  personal 
consideration,  I  received  Admiral  MordwinofF  most  amicably, 
and  after  dinner  assembled  the  officers  in  question,  for  consul- 
tation. Many  difficulties  presented  themselves  to  their  minds 
against  the  proposed  junction ;  but  as  it  was  known  that  the  prince 
marshal  was  determined  on  the  measure,  it  was  agreed  that  it 
could  not  be  effected  but  at  Hagdge-bay,  upon  the  coast,  between 
Beresane  and  the  Danube,  at  the  distance  of  fifty  verstes*  from 
the  point  of  Kinbourn.  I  raised  no  obstacle.  I  only  observed, 
that  since  it  was  pressingly  necessary  to  beat  the  advanced 


seeourbatteries?'  was  the  reply.  '  Yes,'  said  I,  '  but  I  also  see  the  distance  between 
them.  What  effect  can  you  expect  from  them,  in  a  dark  night,  with  a  strong  wind, 
from  the  sea  ?'  He  bit  his  nails,  and  told  me  he  understood  the  Turks  better  than  I 
did.  So  ended  our  conversation  on  this  topic.  As  to  my  own  affairs,  I  can  enter  into 
no  other  explanation,  than  that  I  was  badly  informed  on  the  subject  which  brought  me 
ashore  ;  but  I  have  made  other  discoveries.  Adieu,  my  dear  admiral,  take  care  of 
yourself,  and  be  cautious  in  whom  you  trust.  Remember  you  have  to  sustain  here  a 
political  as  well  as  a  military  character ;  and  that  your  part  is  now  rather  that  of  a 
courtier  than  a  soldier."  Jones  says  in  a  note :  "  I  never  was  made  to  play  that 
part." 
"  A  verste  is  e^ual  to  3500  English  feet. 


PAUL   JONES.  445 

guard  of  the  enemy  before  we  could  effect  the  proposed  junc- 
tion, it  was  indispensable  to  station  the  squadron  previously  in 
the  road  of  Oczakow,  and  to  sail  from  thence  with  the  wind 
from  N.  to  N.N.W.  to  avoid  being  attacked  on  the  way  by  the 
grand  fleet  of  the  Turks,  and  to  keep  it  to  the  leeward  till  the 
junction  was  effected.  It  was  only  a  few  days  previously  that 
preparations  had  been  begun  to  complete  the  armament  of  the 
Wolodimer  and  Alexander. 

"  During  this  time  her  imperial  majesty  had  sent  twenty- 
four  swords  of  massive  gold,  to  head  quarters,  to  be  distributed 
among  the  officers  on  account  of  the  battle  of  the  Liman.  The 
prince  marshal  himself  received  a  gold  sword,  enriched  with 
diamonds  and  emeralds  ;  and  the  prince  of  Nassau  received  one 
ornamented  with  a  row  of  diamonds.  There  were  a  number  of 
silver  medals  sent  at  the  same  time  to  be  distributed  among  the 
soldiers  and  seamen.  The  swords  had  not  yet  been  distributed, 
but  the  medals  were  all  given  to  the  men  of  the  flotilla,  and  not 
a  solitary  one  to  the  squadron.  It  is  usual  to  give  subalterns 
the  more  merit  the  more  they  are  exposed  to  personal  danger. 
The  crews  of  the  squadron  had  often  towed  the  flotilla  totally 
uncovered,  and  exposed  to  the  fire  of  the  enemy,  whilst  the 
people  of  the  flotilla  were  screened  by  parapets  made  of  bags  of 
wool,  by  which  the  vessels  were  surrounded. 

"  On  the  18th  September,  I  received  a  secret  order  from  the 
prince  marshal  to  attack  the  advanced  guard  of  the  enemy, 
anchored  under  Beresane.*  His  highness  proposed  to  make 
the  attack  with  the  five  frigates  which  had  been  sent  to  Glau- 
boca  to  be  mounted  as  batteries ;  and  these  frigates  were  to  be 
supported  by  the  other  vessels  of  the  squadron,  excepting  the 
Wolodimer  and  the  Alexander,  the  arming  of  which  went  on 
very  slowly  on  account  of  difficulties  on  the  part  of  the  admi- 
ralty. Two  of  the  frigates,  the  Scoroi  and  the  Boristhenes, 
had  already  rejoined  the  squadron.  Before  the  equipments  of 


*  The  order  is  No.  55  of  the  Pieces  Justificative*. 


445  PACL   JONES. 

those  frigates  were  altered,  they  carried  more  guns  than  arc 
ever  put,  either  by  the  French  or  English,  ii.to  ships  of  the  same 
kind.  The  Scoroi,  for  example,  carried  40  guns,  and  in  Eng- 
land they  would  not  have  put  more  than  32  into  her.  She 
now  carried  16  thirty-six  pounders,  and  4  licornes,  eighteen 
pounders. 

"  They  called  her  '  a  sea-battery.'  The  amount  of  her  ca- 
libre now,  compared  with  what  it  was  before,  had  the  advantage 
of  648  pounds  over  452 ;  but  to  gain  this  they  had  been  obliged 
to  open  her  port-holes  en  echiquier,  because  there  was  not  room 
enough  for  recoil,  to  place  the  guns  on  each  side  opposite  ;  and 
for  the  same  reason  they  were  obliged  after  all  to  shift  the 
guns  from  their  places,  arid  make  a  sort  of  platform  for  the 
purpose  on  the  side  of  the  ship.  And  so  with  the  others. 
When  it  was  resolved  to  mount  thirty-sixes  on  the  five  frigates, 
it  must  be  supposed  that  the  fact  had  not  been  adverted  to,  that 
they  had  no  bullets  of  that  size,  and  that  they  would  be  obliged 
to  use  24  pound  shot.  To  remedy  this,  recourse  was  had  to 
means  entirely  novel.  The  twenty-four  pound  bullets  were  dipped 
in  pitch  to  make  them  fill  up  the  bore  of  the  thirty-sixes.  The 
use  of  these  pitched  bullets  seems  dangerous  for  those  who  work 
the  guns  ;  for  if  the  smallest  particle  of  the  combustible  material 
remains  in  the  piece,  it  must  set  fire  to  the  next  cartridge;  and  a 
single  such  accident  would  damp  the  courage  of  the  most  resolute 
men.  But,  putting  aside  all  these  and  many  other  inconve- 
niences, the  only  advantage  gained  by  using  the  twenty-four  pound 
bullets  for  the  thirty-six  pound  guns  on  board  the  Scoroi,  would 
be  reduced  to  the  difference  between  456,  the  actual  calibre,  and 
452,  the  former.  By  experience  it  has  been  ascertained  in  the 
French  marine,  that  two  shots  can  be  fired  from  an  eighteen 
pounder  for  one  from  a  thirty-six,  if  both  pieces  are  worked 
with  equal  convenience.  By  this  account  it  may  be  judged, 
whether  the  change  in  the  armament  of  these  frigates  was  a 
good  or  bad  operation.  Without  presuming  to  decide  the 
question,  I  will  only  say  that,  in  my  opinion,  eighteen  pounders 
are  tbe  largest  and  best  for  frigates.  I  think  that  guns  of  a 


PAUL   JONES.  447 

larger  calibre  are  worked  too  slowly,  for  vessels  whieh  hare  but 
one  battery,  and  cannot  keep  up  that  rolling  fire  so  necessary  in 
attacking  Turks. 

"  The  five  frigates,  of  which  I  have  perhaps  spoken  too 
much,  appeared  to  me  very  fit  to  place  behind  a  stoccado,  or 
bar.  But  I  never  would  make  choice  of  ships  of  this  kind  for 
the  sea  service.  The  first  broadside  is  all  that  is  to  be  feared 
from  them. 

**  I  replied  in  writing  to  the  proposition  of  the  prince  marshal 
for  attacking  the  advanced  guard  of  the  Turks  near  Beresane, 
and  afterwards  had  a  plan  of  attack  drawn  out  for  his  inspec- 
tion. He  was  much  pleased  with  it.  As  it  was  necessary  to 
take  advantage  of  a  northerly  wind  to  effect  the  enterprise,  I 
proposed  to  the  prince  marshal  to  place  the  frigates  in  the  road 
as  soon  as  they  arrived  from  Glauboca,  to  preserve,  while  wait- 
ing the  attack  of  the  line,  a  permanent  blockade  between 
Oczakow  and  the  enemy  outside.  His  highness  said  it  was 
not  yet  time  for  this,  and  ordered  me  to  place  them  in  a  Hue 
with  the  other  vessels  of  my  squadron,  so  as  to  make  a  display 
in  the  channel  of  the  Liman. 

"  In  the  end  of  the  month,  the  Turkish  fleet  set  sail  in  the 
night,  followed  by  all  the  vessels  that  had  lain  under  Beresane  ; 
and  we  saw  it  at  a  great  distance  the  next  morning.  The 
capitan  pacha  returned  in  about  thirty-six  hours,  and  resumed 
the  position  he  had  left.  The  only  difference  was,  that  he 
brought  in  some  additional  small  vessels,  and  that  he  consider- 
ably reinforced  his  advanced  guard  under  Beresane.  As  our 
flotilla,  which  ought  to  have  blockaded  the  road,  and  cut  off  the 
communication  with  the  small  vessels  on  that  side,  were  only 
there  occasionally,  as  if  by  caprice,  it  was  quite  natural  for  the 
Turks  to  profit  by  its  absence,  and  go  out  and  in  when  they 
found  the  way  clear. 

"  The  flotilla  being  to  leeward,  between  my  squadron  and 
Kinbourn,  on  the  8th  October,  the  capitan  pacha  sent  off  in  the 
evening  three  vessels  of  his  advanced  guard,  which  entered 
Oczakow  unmolested,  by  an  open  passage.  Our  flotilla  made 


448  PAUL   JONES. 

no  movement.  I  made  an  attempt  to  intercept  the  enemy's 
progress  with  my  gun-boats,*  which  I  caused  to  be  hauled  to 
windward  by  the  ships'  boats  of  the  squadron.  But  the  wind 
being  high,  they  could  not  bring  them  to  attack.  Our  batteries 
nearest  to  Oczakow  fired  on  the  three  Turkish  vessels,  but 
without  being  able  to  arrest  their  progress.  It  was  now  dark ; 
and,  moreover,  the  distance  between  these  batteries  and  the 
block  fort  on  the  side  of  Kinbourn,  being  seven  verstes,  the 
land  batteries  never  could  have  prevented  either  the  entrance 
or  exit  of  small  vessels.  To  command  the  entrance  of  the 
Liman,  I  think  it  is  requisite  to  establish  a  fort,  with  two  bat- 
teries, one  over  the  other  on  the  shallows  which  run  out  a  con- 
siderable distance  from  the  point  of  sand  off  Kinbourn,  towards 
Beresane,  and  which  would  command  even  the  entrance  of  the 
road  of  Oczakow. 

"  One  of  the  Turkish  ships  had  the  folly  to  cast  anchor  in  the 
shallows  of  Fort  Hassan  Pacha ;  and  at  daybreak  on  the  9th, 
being  within  shot  of  our  most  advanced  land  battery,  was  struck 
between  wind  and  water,  and  sunk  ;  the  other  two  vessels  got 
in  without  difficulty. 

"  I  have  already  mentioned,  that  on  the  18th  of  August,  I 
received  a  preparatory  order  for  attacking  the  fortress  of  Has- 
san Pacha  with  my  bomb-vessels,  and  the  chaloupes  armed  with 
licornes  and  mortars.  I  expected  from  day  to  day  an  order  for 
action,  and  had  in  consequence  bestowed  much  pains  in  training 
my  men  to  the  necessary  evolutions  ;  but  the  final  orders  never 
arrived. 

"  The  prince  of  Nassau  having  caballed  against  my  plan  of 
attack,  it  was  set  aside ;  and  by  a  new  arrangement,  which  I 
was  commanded  to  form  with  General  Muller,  commander  in 

*  Pieces  Justificatives,  No.  59,  is  a  letter  from  Potemkin,  demanding  why  three  ves- 
sels were  allowed  to  pass  unmolested  by  the  fleet.  No.  60,  is  an  explanation  in  reply, 
by  Jones,  to  the  same  effect  as  is  stated  in  the  Journal ;  adding,  that  without  a  blockade 
constantly  kept  up,  the  Turks  could  always,  under  like  circumstances,  enter  with  their 
small  vessels. 


PAUL   JONES.  449 

chief  of  artillery,  I  was  destined  to  assault  the  intrenchment, 
and  the  Turkish  batteries  on  the  shore  of  the  road. 

"  On  the  9th  of  October,  the  flotilla  advanced  from  the  shores 
of  Kinbourn,  and  attacked  Oczakow  ;  but  this  attack  was  con- 
ducted and  ended  in  the  very  same  manner  as  that  of  the  30th 
August,  save  that  a  small  vessel  of  the  Turkish  flotilla  was 
stranded,  which  lay  farther  out  than  any  of  the  others,  on  the 
shallows  this  side  of  Fort  Hassan  Pacha. 

"  On  the  10th  of  October,  I  received  another  preparatory 
order  ;  and  soon  afterwards  was  ordered  to  give  up  all  the  boats 
to  the  flotilla.*  Towards  evening  I  went  to  head  quarters  to 
take  particular  orders  in  relation  to  these  boats.  The  prince 
marshal  told  me  he  had  the  strongest  desire  to  pitch  overboard 
a  large  piece  of  artillery  placed  on  the  fore-part  of  the  vessel  of 
the  Turkish  flotilla  that  stood  farthest  out,  and  which  had  run 
aground.  I  imagined  at  the  time  that  there  was  no  other  vessel 
run  aground  save  the  one  in  the  road,  which  was  at  the  distance 
of  a  verste  from  the  fortress  of  Hassan  Pacha ;  so  I  said  the 
the  thing  was  quite  easy  ;  for  although  the  Turks  should  come 
up  in  fo^ce  to  defend  the  vessel,  there  would  always  be  time  to 
spike  the  piece  of  cannon.  It  was  night  when  I  undertook  this 
little  enterprise.  I  did  not  imagine  the  prince  marshal  attached 
so  much  importance  to  it  as  to  wish  that  I  should  conduct  it  in 
/person.  I  confided  it  to  Lieutenant  Edwards,  a  brave  and  an 
intelligent  man,  whom  I  wished  to  reward  for  past  services. 
1st,  On  the  1st  of  July,  he  had  followed  me  throughout,  and  was 
a  long  time  with  me  in  the  galley  of  the  capitan  pacha,  2dly, 
He  had  followed  me  on  the  night  of  the  20th  of  July,  and  had 
boarded,  and  cut  the  cable  of  the  vessel  which  I  took  opposite 
the  fortress  of  Hassan  Pacha.  3dly,  He  had  assisted  me  some 
days  afterwards,  when,  by  orders  of  the  prince  marshal,  we  made 
trial  of  bombarding  the  fort  from  one  of  the  bomb-vessels  ;  from 


*  Pikes  Justificatites,  Nos.  61,  63.  The  orders  are  dated  on  the  9th.  The  latter 
directed  all  the  gun-boats  to  be  delivered  to  the  flotilla ;  stating  that  doable  chaloupes 
more  proper  for  the  sea,  would  be  substituted. 

56 


PAUL   JONES. 

which  service  we  had  some  difficulty  in  withdrawing,  as  the 
wind  which,  rising  at  the  moment,  kept  us  for  a  long  while 
under  the  fire  of  the  enemy's  musketry,  which  wounded  some 
of  our  men. 

"  Mr.  Edwards  returned  before  daybreak,  without  having 
succeeded.  He  said  there  were  a  great  many  men  in  the  ship, 
who  fired  on  him,  and  that  he  durst  not  board  her,  he  was  so 
ill  supported.  I  was  so  vexed  that  he  had  failed,  that  in  my 
report  to  the  prince  marshal,  I  said,  that  I  would  conduct  the 
enterprise  myself  next  night,  if  that  would  satisfy  him.  The 
prince  marshal  held  me  at  my  word  ;  but  it  was  eleven  at  night 
when  Mr.  Edwards  returned  with  the  order.  The  wind,  which 
was  high,  was  quite  against  me,  as  well  as  a  strong  tide  ;  and  I 
would  have  deferred  the  attempt,  if  I  had  not  conceived  my 
honour  pledged.  I  was  led  to  hope,  that  after  midnight  the 
wind  might  fall,  and  the  strength  of  the  tide  lessen,  if  it  did  not 
change.  The  night  was  very  dark,  and  the  rain  fell  in  torrents. 
I  waited  till  two  o'clock,  when  the  moon  rose.  I  had  with  me 
five  armed  canoes,  and  I  calculated  on  being  followed  by  four 
hatteaux  Zaporavians,  and  by  one  of  the  armed  vessels  I  had 
taken  from  the  Turks ;  but  it  was  impossible  to  tow  them  against 
wind  and  tide,  and  I  was  compelled  to  go  on  as  I  best  could, 
with  only  my  five  canoes.  I  have  noticed  that  our  flotilla  had 
run  aground  a  small  Turkish  vessel  in  the  shallows  of  the  for- 
tress of  Hassan  Pacha,  but  I  did  not  perceive  this  till  the  llth, 
after  I  had  despatched  Mr.  Edwards  to  head  quarters,  because 
the  vessel  lay  so  near  the  fortress,  where  the  water  is  of  little 
depth,  that  it  had  only  sunk  a  foot  or  fifteen  inches,  and  conse- 
quently appeared  as  if  still  afloat.  As  the  prince  marshal  had 
only  spoken  to  me  of  the  farthest  out  of  the  Turkish  flotilla,  I 
began  to  think  he  meant  to  designate  the  one  nearest  the  fortress, 
in  which  idea  I  was  confirmed  by  Mr.  Edwards,  at  his  return 
from  head  quarters,  telling  me  he  had  heard  ashore  that  the 
vessel  run  down  in  the  road  had  been  visited,  but  that  nothing 
had  been  found  there.  I  rowed  for  the  vessel  nearest  the  for- 
tress w'lich  carried,  like  most  of  the  others  alongside,  a  large 


PAUL   JONES.  451 

cannon  in  her  bow ;  but,  after  having  fatigued  my  rowers,  I 
was  vexed  to  see  daylight  appear,  whilst  I  had  still  more  than 
a  verste  to  go  before  I  could  reach  the  vessel.  I  returned  on 
board  my  own  ship,  to  prevent  a  useless  alarm,  being  persuaded 
I  should  succeed  next  night.  Without  waiting  to  receive  my 
report,  the  prince  marshal  sent  me  orders  '  to  abandon  the  en- 
terprise, for  he  had  intrusted  it  to  other  ships.'*  There  was 
fine  weather  on  the  night  between  the  12th  and  13th,  but  the 
'  other  ships'  did  nothing  ;  and  the  Turks  availed  themselves 
of  an  open  way  to  bring  out  all  their  flotilla,  which  rejoined 
the  ships  of  the  advanced  guard  under  Beresane. 

"Some  days  afterwards,  a  colonel  of  Cossacks  boarded  the 
vessel  run  down  in  the  road,  and  set  fire  to  it,  by  leaving  in  it 
lighted  brandcougles,  for  which  he  received  public  thanks. 

"  On  the  13th,  the  prince  marshal  wished  to  establish  a  per- 
manent line  of  blockade  in  the  road,  by  placing  my  frigates 
there,  and  some  other  small  vessels.  He  wrote  me  a  letter  on 
this  subject,  on  that  day,  which  contained  things  that  strongly 
affected  me,  and  to  which  I  replied  next  day,  with  perhaps 
too  much  freedom  and  warmth.t  This  occasioned  an  inter- 


*  Such  is  the  phraseology  of  the  laconic  order.  Pieces  Justificative,  No.  66. 

t  The  following  is  the  order  of  Potemkin  referred  to,  being  No.  66  of  the  Pifcet 
Justificatives. 

"  Order  to  Rear  Admiral  Chevalier  Paul  Jones. 

"  As  it  is  seen  that  the  capitan  pacha  comes  in  his  kirlangitch  from  the  grand  fleet  tc 
the  smaller  vessels,  and  as  before  quitting  this  he  may  resolve  to  attempt  something,  I 
request  your  excellency,  the  capitan  pacha  having  actually  a  greater  number  of  ves- 
sels, to  hold  yourself  in  readiness  to  receive  him  courageously,  and  drive  him  back. 
I  require  that  this  be  done  without  loss  of  time ;  if  not,  you  will  be  made  answerable 
for  every  neglect.  I  have  already  ordered  the  flotilla  to  approach. 

"  PRINCE  POTEMKIN  TAURICIBN. 
•'  13th  October,  1788." 

To  this  order  Jones  has  affixed  the  following  note : — "  A  warrior  is  always  ready, 
and  I  had  not  come  there  an  apprentice." 

The  following  was  the  reply  of  Jones. 


452  PAUL   JONES. 

change  of  letters  between  his  highness  and  myself,  which  was 
only  terminated  on  the  J8th,  by  the  arrival  of  admiral  Mordwi- 
noff,  to  take  command  of  the  squadron  and  the  flotilla;  for  the 


"  Walodimer,  before  Ocwkow, 
October,  14,  1788. 

"I  have  the  honour  to  transmit  to  your  highness  a  plan  of  the  position  in  which  I 
placed  the  squadron  under  my  command  this  morning,  in  conformity  to  your  or- 
ders of  yesterday.  During  the  time  I  was  charged  with  the  blockade  of  the  road 
of  Oczakow  and  the  passage  of  the  Liman,  all  communication  between  the  place  and 
the  enemy  outside  was  entirely  ",ut  off.  But  when  the  flotilla  of  the  capitan  pacha 
was  on  its  return,  your  highness  thought  that  my  small  vessels  were  too  much  expo- 
sed in  the  road,  and  ordered  me  to  have  them  brought  in  to  aid  me  in  blocking  the 
passage  of  the  Liman.  That  passage  has  been  so  well  blocked  hitherto,  that  the  capi- 
tan pacha,  notwithstanding  his  great  superiority,  has  never  dared  to  attempt  forcing  it. 
But  since  his  arrival,  I  hold  myself  in  no-wise  responsible  for  the  entry  and  exit  of  the 
enemy  by  the  road.  [He  says  in  a  note :  '  The  flotilla  under  the  Prince  de  Nassau's 
orders  was  charged  with  cutting  off  the  communication  of  the  small  vessels  of  the 
enemy  through  the  road.  It  had  suffered  the  Turkish  flotilla  to  escape.']  I  have 
always  conformed  myself  immediately,  without  murmuring,  and  most  exactly,  to  the 
commands  of  your  highness ;  and  on  occasions  when  you  have  deigned  to  leave  any 
thing  to  my  own  discretion,  I  have  been  exceedingly  flattered,  and  believe  you  have 
had  no  occasion  to  repent.  At  present,  in  case  the  capitan  pacha  does  resolve  on 
attempting  any  thing  before  his  departure,  I  can  give  assurance  beforehand,  that  the 
brave  officers  and  crews  I  have  the  honour  to  command  will  do  their  duty  '  courageous- 
ly,' though  they  have  not  yet  been  rewarded  for  the  important  services  they  have 
already  performed  for  the  empire  under  my  eyes.  I  answer  with  my  honour,  to  ex- 
plain myself  fairly  on  this  delicate  point  at  the  end  of  the  campaign.  In  the  mean- 
while, I  may  merely  say,  that  it  is  upon  the  sacred  promise  I  have  given  them  of  de- 
manding justice  from  your  highness  in  their  behalf,  that  they  have  consented  to  stifle 
their  grievances  and  keep  silent." 

He  added,  that  as  he  was  made  responsible  for  "  negligence,"  his  duty  demanded 
that  he  should  reclaim  the  officers,  gunners,  and  seamen  of  the  twenty  gun-boats  and 
bomb-vessels  which  were  no  longer  under  his  orders,  which  were  essentially  wanted 
on  board  the  frigates  in  the  road.  The  soldiers  attached  to  them  belonging  to  the 
land  forces  might,  he  said,  be  replaced  by  other  troops.  Potemkin's  order  on  the  same 
day,  was  as  follows:  "  As  you  are  at  present  in  want  of  seamen,  and  in  reference  to 
the  difficulty  represented,  that  your  squadron  cannot  be  kept  in  its  present  position,  I 
direct  your  excellency  to  re-station  it  in  its  first  place,  until  the  people  on  board  the 
gun-boats  shall  be  restored  to  you."  Jones  wrote  on  the  next  day,  in  these  terms  : 
"  On  reading  over  the  letter  I  had  the  honour  to  address  to  your  highness,  I  do  not 
find  that  I  represented  the  squadron  under  my  orders  as  being  unable  to  retain  its  pre- 
sent position  .  meant  only  to  state  that  the  crews  of  the  frigates  and  some  of  the  other 


PAUL  JONES.  453 

prince  of  Nassau  had  set  off  for  Warsaw  some  days  after  his 
affair  cf  the  9th,  with  which  the  prince  marshal  had  been  much 
dissatisfied.  I  at  the  same  time  received  orders  from  her  im- 


boats  with  which  I  have  formed  the  line  of  blockade,  are  too  weak  to  make  the  neces- 
sary defence  in  case  of  attack.  Yon  will  perceive  this  as  well  as  I  do,  by  the  particu- 
lars subjoined.  The  wind  seems  to  me  too  strong  to  make  the  boats  return  this  morn- 
ing. It  will  be  difficult,  probably  impracticable,  for  them  to  double  the  sand  bank,  in 
their  route  to  the  north  of  the  channel.  I  leave  it  in  their  discretion  to  return  if  they 
can ;  but  it  is  in  order  to  obey,  and  not  with  any  reference  to  my  difficulties.  I  do  not 
recollect  having  yet  made  any.  I  will  even  take  the  liberty  of  saying,  with  submis- 
sion, that,  to  make  these  boats  return,  will  not,  in  my  opinion,  have  a  good  effect  for 
us  in  the  mind  of  the  enemy ;  and  if  the  flotilla  goes  away  every  time  the  wind  begins 
to  blow,  experience  has  taught  us  that  the  Turks  will  not  fail  to  profit  by  the  way 
being  open,  to  make  their  small  vessels  pass  through  the  road."  The  order  of  this 
day,  (the  15th,)  with  the  comments  of  Jones,  is  as  follows :  "  Your  excellency  finds 
the  present  line  of  your  squadron  weak  for  defence ;  it  is,  in  consequence,  useless.  [I 
did  not  say  that.]  Besides  the  number  of  the  crews,  which  is  deficient,  cannot  conve- 
niently be  replaced  on  board  of  vessels  in  that  position.  [I  only  asked  leave  to  try  it.] 
I  see  no  difficulties  to  prevent  your  occupying  the  first  disposition ;  it  may  be  done 
forthwith ;  and  if  I  believed  [I  believed  so,  strongly,  myself,]  that  the  movement  would 
produce  a  bad  effect  in  the  mind  of  the  enemy,  I  would  not  do  it.  The  position  yon 
occupied  impedes  the  fire  of  our  land  batteries."  [Only  of  one  small  battery,  most 
advanced  toward  Oczakow  and  newly  built.]  The  next  day  Jones  wrote  that  he  had 
given  the  desired  orders  for  the  return  of  the  frigates  and  boats,  but  a  hard  gale  had 
pre^euted  it ;  and  repeated  that  the  complement  of  their  crews  might  be  put  on  board 
in  their  existing  situation,  and  that  the  return  would  have  a  bad  effect,  &c.  "  Every 
man  who  thinks,"  he  said,  "  is  master  of  his  own  opinion;  and  this  is  mine."  He 
suggested  that  they  might  be  reinforced  by  soldiers;  in  consequence  of  which  an  order 
to  that  effect  was  given  next  day,  with  peremptory  directions  fora  change  in  the  posi- 
tion of  the  line.  This  order  concluded  with  a  repetition  of  the  phrase  which  had 
already  given  such  offence.  "  Should  the  enemy  attempt  to  pass  to  Oczakow,"  the 
prince  wrote,  "  prevent  him  by  every  means,  and  defend  yourself  courageously."  The 
annotation  of  Jones  is:  "  It  will  be  hard  to  believe  that  Prince  Potemkin  addressed 
such  words  to  Paul  Jones."  On  the  same  day,  he  informed  the  prince  that  he  had 
taken  soundings  in  the  road  of  Oczakow  in  the  morning,  and  thought  the  line  of  block- 
ade might  be  formed  in  the  manner  he  requested,  so  as  not  to  impede  the  fire  of  the 
batteries  on  each  side.  His  next  letter  is  dated  on  the  18th,  and  is  of  some  length. 
He  begins  by  explaining  the  affair  of  the  Turkish  vessel  which  was  aground,  and  in 
relation  to  which  he  had  misapprehended  the  wishes  of  the  prince.  He  seems  to  have 
suspected  that  his  gallantry  had  been  impeached,  and  that  his  non-success  in  this  small 
matter  had  been  the  leading  cause  of  discontent.  He  had,  however,  made  full  and 
satisfactory  explanations  before.  He  proceeded  to  say :  "  I  now  feel  that  7  toos  not  in 
my  place.  I  leave  to  your  highness,  as  you  have  a  noble  heart  and  magnanimous  soul. 


454  PAUL   JONES. 

perial  majesty  to  go  to  St.  Petersburgh  to  be  employed  in  the 
North  Sea.  Sweden  had  declared  war  against  Russia  at  the 
commencement  of  the  campaign,  and  Admiral  Greig,  who  had 


to  judge  whether  I  ought  not  to  have  been  offended  at  your  sudden  order  of  the  next 
morning,  (the  12th,)  before  you  had  heard  any  reasons  I  had  to  offer.  By  that  order, 
I  was  directed  '  to  abandon  the  enterprise,  because  you  had  intrusted  it  to  other  ves- 
sels.' Had  not  that  order  been  given,  the  Turkish  flotilla  would  not  have  been  able 
to  escape  on  the  night  between  the  12th  and  13th,  for  I  should  have  been  there  again. 
Your  highness  will  judge,  how  an  officer,  who  fears  nothing  and  had  nothing  where- 
with to  reproach  himself,  must  have  been  affected  by  your  order  of  the  13th.  I  was 
directed  to  keep  myself  in  readiness  to  receive  the  enemy  '  courageously,  and  that 
without  loss  of  time ;  for  if  not,'  &c.  I  was  in  despair.  Having  been  all  heart  and 
soul  for  the  good  of  the  service,  and  having  done  all  that  a  man  of  honour  could  to  in- 
epire  a  confidence  which  I  believed  I  had  deserved  at  your  hands,  allow  me,  my  prince, 
to  ask  you  how  it  happens,  that  I  have  been  so  unhappy  as  to  have  lost  your  regard  ? 
My  enemies  themselves  cannot  refuse  me  their  respect.  General  Compte  de  Mamo- 
now  assured  me  of  your  confidence  in  me,  giving  me  the  most  flattering  hope  of  your 
friendship  ;  and  her  imperial  majesty  told  me  the  most  obliging  things  to  the  same 
effect.  At  all  events,  your  highness  has  so  good  a  heart,  that  you  will  excuse  the 
hastiness  of  expression  which  escaped  me  in  my  letter  of  the  14th.  I  am  anxious  to 
continue  in  the  service.  It  is  unnecessary  to  recite  either  the  promises  or  the  offers 
which  have  been  made  to  rne.  I  am  disposed  to  do  all  that  can  be  asked  of  a  man  of 
honour,  in  my  situation ;  and  if  you  find  in  me  an  acquisition  to  the  imperial  marine,  it 
belongs  to  yourself  to  fix  me  in  Russia.  But  as  I  come  hither  neither  as  an  adventurer 
nor  a  charlatan  to  repair  a  broken  fortune,  I  hope  in  future  to  experience  no  humilia- 
tion, and  soon  to  find  myself  in  the  situation  which  was  promised  to  me,  when  I  was 
invited  to  enter  into  the  marine  of  the  empress.  Perhaps  I  love  honours  too  much ; 
but  as  to  fortune,  though  my  own  is  not  very  great,  I  never  bent  the  knee  to  that  idol. 
I  well  know  that  riches  do  not  insure  happiness.  I  am  sure  of  one  thing,  if  I  had 
the  happiness  of  once  enjoying  your  confidence,  it  would  be  for  life,  for  I  am  not  of  a 
character  that  can  change."  But  the  removal  of  Jones  had  been  determined  upon, 
not  to  command  the  fleet  in  the  north,  nor  probably,  merely  in  consequence  of  his  let- 
ter of  the  14th,  by  the  imperious  Potemkin.  On  the  same  18th  day  of  October,  O.  S. 
he  received  the  following  order :  "  According  to  the  special  desire  of  her  imperial  ma- 
jesty, your  service  is  fixed  in  the  northern  seas;  and  as  this  squadron,  and  the  flotilla, 
are  placed  by  me  under  the  orders  of  the  vice  admiral  and  the  Chevalier  de  Mordwinoff, 
your  excellency  may  in  consequence  proceed  on  the  voyage  directed;  principally,  as 
the  squadron  in  the  Liinan,  on  account  of  the  season  being  so  far  advanced,  cannot 
now  be  united  with  that  of  Sevastopole." 

On  the  20th,  Jones  wrote  to  Potemkin  that  he  had  given  up  his  command  pursuant 
to  orders,  to  Rear  Admiral  Mordwinoff.  "  I  am  much  flattered  that  her  majesty  yet 
deigns  to  interest  herself  about  me  ;  but  what  I  shall  for  ever  regret  is,  the  loss  of  your 
regard.  I  will  not  say  that  it  is  difficult  to  find  more  skilful  sea]  officers  than  myself; 


PAUL  JONES.  455 

commanded  the  Russian  fleet,  having  died,  I  was  assured  her 
majesty  had  very  mportant  views  in  recalling  me.  Yet  I  could 
not  but  feel  grieved  to  be  deprived  of  my  command  when  the 
campaign,  so  far  as  regarded  maritime  operations,  was  so  nearly 
concluded. 

"  As  soon  as  the  prince  of  Nassau  went  off,  all  the  gold 
swords  were  distributed  to  the  officers  of  the  flotilla.  It  is  easy 
to  imagine  that  this  arrangement,  as  well  as  many  others  which 
preceded  it,  was  not  calculated  to  give  me  pleasure.  The  cap- 
ture of  the  Turkish  galley,  and  the  boarding  of  the  galley  of 
the  capitan  pacha  on  the  1st  of  July,  were  without  dispute  the 
most  brilliant  actions  of  the  campaign  of  the  Liman.  The 
credit  of  them  was  most  unjustly  given  to  the  flotilla,  and  my 
officers  remained  without  any  reward  for  the  important  services 
which  they  had  rendered  in  these  affairs,  beside  those  of  the 
18th  of  June,  the  30th  of  August,  and  the  9th  of  October,  from 
which  they  reaped  no  advantage.  After  the  gold  swords  had 
been  distributed,  I  myself  heard  several  of  the  officers  who  got 
them  express  their  astonishment,  not  being  able  to  guess  for 
what  they  had  been  so  highly  rewarded. 

"  It  is  worthy  of  notice,  that  all  the  large  vessels  which  the 
flotilla  attacked  were  previously  aground.  In  this  case,  they 
might  be  compared  to  men  with  their  feet  nailed  to  planks,  and 


1  know  well  that  it  is  a  very  possible  thing  ;  but  I  feel  emboldened  to  say  that  you  will 
never  find  a  man  more  susceptible  of  a  faithful  attachment  or  more  zealous  in  the  dis- 
charge of  his  duty.  I  forgive  my  enemies  who  are  near  you  for  the  painful  blow  aimed 
at  me ;  but  if  there  is  a  just  God,  it  will  be  difficult  for  him  to  do  as  much.  [In  a 
note  he  says  :  "  When  I  took  leave  of  the  prince  at  his  head  quarters  some  days  after- 
wards, he  said  to  me, '  Don't  believe  that  any  one  leads  me !  No  one  leads  me :'  and 
getting  up  and  stamping  with  his  foot,  he  added,  '  Not  even  the  empress.1 "]  I  wish  you, 
my  prince,  complete  success  inyour  military  operations,  andcontinued  happiness  during 
the  rest  of  your  life."  On  the  25th,  he  again  wrote  to  Potemkin,  stating  that  when  he 
first  received  the  communication  of  her  majesty's  pleasure,  fixing  his  service  in  the 
North  Sea,  he  did  not  reflect  that  the  season  was  too  far  advanced  for  warlike  opera- 
tions before  the  ensuing  year;  and  that  to  show  himself  deserving  the  order  of  St. 
Anne  which  he  had  received  from  her  majesty,  he  would  with  pleasure  volunteer  to 
execute  whatever  service  the  prince  might  point  out  for  the  good  of  the  empire.  The 
reply  is  stated  in  the  Journal.  Popoff's  services  were  again  pat  in  requisition. 


456  PAUL  JONES. 

their  hands  tied  behind  their  backs.  This  is  the  only  instance  in 
hutory  of  ships  aground,  and  out  of  the  possibility  of  being  recap- 
tured, being  attacked  and  destroyed,  with  their  crews,  by  com- 
bustibles such  as  the  Brandcougles.     It  may  be  recollected, 
that  during  the  whole  campaign  the  flotilla  had  not  taken  even 
one  small  vessel  afloat.    Since  a  very  mistaken  notion  has  been 
formed  of  the  vessels  taken  in  the  Liman  on  the  17th  and  18th 
of  June,  which  have  been  called  '  ships  of  the  line,'  it  is  but 
right  to  say  that  I  made  Lieutenant  Fox  measure  the  hulls  of 
the  two  largest,  and  we  found  that  the  size  of  the  one  was  130,  and 
of  the  other  135  feet  English  in  total  length,  in  the  line  of  their 
first  battery.    Apply  this  to  naval  architecture.    Yet  the  prince 
of  Nassau  has  been  rewarded  in  a  brilliant  manner  for  '  having 
destroyed  six,  and  captured  two  ships  of  the  line.'     The  only 
three-masted   vessel   which  escaped  burning    upon   the   18th 
June,  was  a  caravel  of  one  battery,  and  four  pieces  between 
decks.    There  escaped  also  one  small  brigantine  of  14  three 
pounders.     Such  were  the  two  vessels  of  the  line  that  were  cap- 
tured, and  the  latter  was  wrecked  next  day  by  the  carelessness 
of  those  who  had  the  charge  of  her.     In  place  of  eight  vessels 
of  the  line,  the  capitan  pacha  had  come  into  the  Liman  with  only 
a  detachment  of  caravels,  or  large  merchantmen,  frigates,  bomb 
ships,  and  other  smaller  craft.     Only  four  of  the  caravels  car 
ried  guns  between  decks.  Of  this  number  was  the  vessel  saved. 
On  one  of  these  four  vessels  was  displayed  a  square  flag ;  but 
there  was  the  same  on  the  galley  and  the  kirlangitch  of  the  capi- 
tan pacha.     It  has  been  already  said  that  the  grand  fleet  with- 
out Kinbourn  displayed  three  admiral's  flags.     But  by  the  his- 
tory of  the  campaign  given  by  the  prince  of  Nassau,  it  appears 
that  the  capitan  pacha  had  lost  his  best  ship,  manned  with  the 
picked  men  of  his  fleet,  and  his   only  flag  as  grand  admiral, 
while  it  is  well  known  that  at  the  end  of  the  campaign  he  went 
back  to  Constantinople  with  all  the  ships  of  the  line  he  had  at 
its  commencement. 

"  As  I  was  told  that  some  ill-intentioned  persons  in  the  army 
had  said  that  I  had  been  deprived  of  my  command  because  the 


PAUL   JONES.  457 

officers  were  unwilling  to  serve  under  me,  I  endeavoured  to 
procure  testimonials  to  the  contrary,  and  have  seen  with  regret 
that  the  mind  is  not  always  free ;  and  that  men  sometimes  dare 
not  render  homage  to  truth.* 

"  The  last  of  the  five  frigates,  called  at  the  time,  'sea  bat- 
teries,' did  not  rejoin  the  squadron  until  the  19th  October,  and 
on  the  same  day,  Admiral  Mordwinoff  placed  the  line  of  the 
blockading  vessels  in  the  road,  much  further  out  than  before, 
so  as  to  mask  the  fire  of  all  the  guns  ashore,  on  both  sides.  It 
was  ill-judged,  because  the  land  batteries  ought  always  to  be 
able  to  flank  a  line  of  blockade,  formed  by  vessels  or  floating 
batteries.  On  the  20th,  the  wind  being  rather  fresh  from  the 
north,  the  admiral  made  a  signal  at  3  P.  M.  for  all  the  flotilla  to 
leave  the  road,  and  come  while  it  was  in  their  favour  to  take 
station  near  Kinbourn.  This  movement  was  entirely  unneces- 
sary for  the  safety  of  the  flotilla ;  but  the  capitan  pacha  availed 
himself  of  it,  and  got  in,  on  the  same  night,  twenty-four  vessels 
loaded  with  ammunition  for  the  garrison,  and  having  onboard, 
besides  their  crews,  2700  men.  The  flotilla  attacked  these  ves- 
sels on  the  succeeding  days ;  but  the  Turks,  having  taken  out 
their  cargoes,  hauled  them  up  on  the  road,  under  the  cannon  of 
their  batteries  where  much  harm  could  not  be  done  to  them. 


*  Pieces  Justificative^,  No.  80,  is  a  full  certificate  to  the  effect  Jones  wished,  signed 
by  Captain  Afansio  Rofstopoloff,  commander  of  the  St.  Anne,  before  Oczakow,  on  the 
31st  October.  It  is  attested  by  the  secretary  D  mitreffsky  and  John  Cramp  assistant  secre- 
tary, cornet  of  a  regimentof  cuirassiers.  They  certify  that  the  captain  came  onboard  the 
Wolodimer  on  the  4th  November,  and  prayed  the  rear  admiral  to  return  the  original 
attestation,  in  the  Russian  language ;  as  he  had  learned  that  having  given  it  would  do 
him  much  injury  in  the  nrnd  of  Prince  Potemkin,  though  it  contained  nothing  but  pure 
truth.  It  was  accordingly  burned  in  his  presence,  the  French  translation  being  re- 
tained. There  is  also  a  certificate  to  the  same  effect,  the  Russian  original  of  which 
is  preserved  by  Lieutenant  Mihalopokoff,  commandant  of  one  of  the  vessels,  called  the 
Maillet ;  which  is  stated  in  the  French  attestation  to  have  been  brulg,  but  seems  to 
have  been  burned  only  figuratively,  like  the  odd  card  in  some  French  games ;  and 
another,  which  was  not  signed,  by  any  of  the  commanders,  but  the  attestation  of  which 
sets  forth  that  in  addition  to  the  two  above  named,  all  the  others,  while  avowing  to  M. 
Dmitreffsky  that  for  imperative  reasons  they  could  not  subscribe  it,  declared,  after 
hearing  it  read,  that  they  found  nothing  in  it  contrary  to  pure  truth. 

57 


458  PAUL  JONES. 

"Having  reflected  that  the  season  was  too  far  advanced  to 
render  my  services  necessary  in  the  North  Sea  before  the  follow- 
ing year,  I  wrote  to  the  prince  marshal,  offering  to  continue  my 
services  till  the  end  of  the  campaign.  1  was  indebted  to  him 
for  the  order  of  St.  Anne,  and  I  have  a  heart  naturally  grate- 
ful. He  directed  his  secretary,  M.  Popoff,  to  write  me,  that 
since  I  was  recalled  by  the  order  of  the  empress,  it  was  neces- 
sary I  should  go. 

"I  was  invited  to  head  quarters  to  take  leave,  and  to  receive 
a  letter  from  the  prince  marshal  for  her  imperial  majesty.  As 
I  was  much  interested  personally,  and  still  more  so  in  relation 
to  my  officers,  I  after  dinner  spoke  freely,  and  told  M.  Popoff 
all  that  was  on  my  mind.  This  brigadier  repeated  what  I  had 
said  to  the  prince  marshal.  He  was  vexed  at  first,  but  after- 
wards he  sent  for  me  to  talk  with  him.  Without  failing  in  the 
respect  due  to  him,  I  spoke  to  him  freely  enough.  I  told  him 
he  had  played  an  unfair  game  at  the  opening  of  the  campaign 
in  dividing  the  command  in  the  Liman  in  the  existing  circum- 
stances of  the  country  ;  and  that,  if  I  had  not  resolved  to  sacri- 
fice my  own  feelings  in  order  to  manage  the  persons  he  had 
given  me  for  colleagues,  the  campaign  would  have  taken  a  very 
different  turn.  He  replied,  'agreed;  but  it  is  too  late  now.'  He 
then  said,  he  would  be  glad  to  see  me  fixed  in  Russia,  and  that 
he  was  disposed  to  give  me  solid  proofs  of  his  esteem,  both  now 
and  in  future.  I  showed  him  the  testimonial  of  the  captain  of 
the  Wolodimer,  and  some  other  papers,  to  convince  him  that  he 
had  neither  done  justice  to  me  nor  to  the  squadron.  He  said 
the  prince  of  Nassau  pretended  all  was  done  by  himself;  'but 
I  have  never,'  said  he,  '  been  deceived  in  hiftri.  I  have  always 
known  him  for  what  he  is.'  He  proposed  that  I  should  go  to 
Tagenroc  to  equip  and  command  a  squadron  he  was  building- 
there  ;  but,  as  I  had  been  brought  to  Russia  to  take  the  chief 
command  in  the  Black  Sea,  and  had  received  orders  from  the 
empress  to  repair  to  St.  Petersburgh,  I  declined  the  offer.  I 
only  entreated  that  he  would  consider  the  services  of  my  officers, 
and  give  them  the  senioritv  thev  had  lost  bv  the  promotion  of 


PAUL   JONES.  459 

those  officers  of  the  flotilla  who  did  not  belong  to  the  naval  ser- 
vice. Admiral  Mnrdwinofi*  made  the  same  request,  and  the 
prince  promised  to  do  them  justice. 

"  Two  days  afterwards,  I  received  a  letter  from  the  prince 
marshal  for  the  empress,  in  which  he  noticed  the  zeal  and 
anxiety  I  had  ever  shown  for  her  service,  and  to  render  myself 
worthy  of  her  favour.* 

"  On  the  4th  November,  the  capitan  pacha  having  withdrawn 
his  advanced  guard  in  the  night,  set  sail  in  the  morning  with 
his  whole  force,  entering  first  Varna,  and  afterwards  Constan- 
tinople, with  every  ship  of  the  line  he  had  at  the  opening  of  the 
campaign.  It  is  singular  that  this  enterprising  commander  did 
not  attempt  to  force  the  entrance  of  the  Li  man  ;  for  Admiral 
Mordwinoff  had  placed  the  squadron  in  so  exposed  and  disad- 
vantageous a  situation,  that  the  fire  of  the  land  batteries,  which 
should  have  flanked  him  without,  was  entirely  covered.  But  it 
may  be  presumed  that  the  Turkish  admiral  believed-he  had 
done  enough  for  the  safety  of  Oczakow  by  the  succours  he  had 
thrown  into  the  place. 

"  On  the  morning  of  the  7th,  agreeably  to  a  secret  order  from 
the  prince  marshal,  the  Zaporaviam  landed,  to  the  number  of 
2000,  on  the  Island  of  Beresane.  The  Turkish  garrison  being 
only  300  strong,  fired  a  few  random  shots,  and  then  surrendered 
at  discretion. 

"  Having  given  the  officers  whom  I  had  commanded  such 
testimonials  as  they  merited,  I  embarked  on  the  morning  of  the 
9th  November,  in  a  small  open  galley  for  Cherson.  I  was  three 
days  and  three  nights  on  the  way,  and  suffered  a  great  deal 


*  No.  92  of  the  Pi&xs  Justifications  :  "  MADAM — In  sending  to  the  high  throne  of 
your  imperial  majesty,  Rear  Admiral  M.  Paul  Jones,  I  take,  with  submission,  the 
liberty  of  certifying  the  eagemess  and  zeal  which  he  has  ever  shown  for  the  service  of 
your  imperial  majesty,  and  to  render  himself  worthy  of  the  high  favour  of  your  impe- 
rial majesty. 

"  From  the  most  faithful  subject  of  your  imperial  majesty", 
"  PRINCE  POTEMKW  TAURICIEN. 

•  October  31,  1788." 


460  PAUL   JONES. 

from  the  excessive  cold.  The  day  after  my  arrival,  the  river 
was  frozen  up,  and  I  was  taken  dangerously  ill.  My  health 
was  not  sufficiently  re-established  to  enable  me  to  proceed 
before  the  6th  of  December.  Having  arrived  at  St.  Elizabeth, 
I  received  intelligence  that  Oczakow  had  been  taken  by  storm 
on  the  6th.  The  garrison  was  eleven  thousand  strong,  including 
the  three  thousand  that  the  capitan  pacha  had  thrown  into  the 
place  before  he  sailed.  But  the  cold  had  become  extreme,* 
and  the  Russian  army  being  formed  in  six  columns  to  attack 
the  place  at  day-dawn,  the  Turks  were  completely  disconcerted. 
Judging  from  the  past,  they  expected  no  such  visit :  and,  be- 
coming panic  struck,  suffered  their  throats  to  be  cut  like  so 
many  sheep.  In  the  fury  of  the  assault  the  Russian  soldiers 
spared  nothing.  I  have  been  assured,  that  from  eighteen  to 
nineteen  thousand  Turks  perished  on  that  day  ! 

"  As  I  wished  to  delay  my  arrival  at  court  till  that  of  the 
prince  marshal,  I  stopped  some  days  at  Skloff,  where  General 
Soritsch  loaded  me  with  civilities.  1  arrived  at  St.  Petersburgh 
on  the  28th  December,  and  was  ordered  to  appear  at  court  on 
the  31st,  when  her  imperial  majesty  did  me  the  honour  of 
granting  me  a  private  audience.  I  presented  the  letter  the 
prince  marshal  had  given  me.  A  few  days  afterwards,  the  em- 
press sent  me  word,  through  Count  de  Dmitrigus-Mamonow, 
that  she  must  wait  the  arrival  of  Prince  Potemkin  before  deci- 
ding on  what  she  would  do  for  me.  In  the  meanwhile  Count 
Besborodko  told  me,  that  a  command  of  greater  importance  was 
intended  for  me  than  that  of  the  Black  Sea. 

"  On  the  1st  February,  the  prince  marshal  not  having  yet 
arrived,  I  gave  in  to  the  vice  chancellor,  Count  d'Osterman,  a 
project  for  forming  an  alliance,  political  and  commercial,  be- 
tween Russia  and  the  United  States.  As  the  object  of  this 
project  was  reciprocal  advantages,  and,  above  all,  to  encourage 
the  commerce  of  the  Black  Sea,  and  of  the  settlements  on  the 


*  Twenty-six  degrees. 


PAUL   JONES.  461 

Crimea,  I  had  long  intended  to  transmit  it  to  the  prince  mar- 
shal ;  and  on  his  arrival  at  court,  about  the  middle  of  February, 
I  sent  him  a  copy.  Some  time  afterwards,  he  took  me  into  his 
cabinet,  and  said  that  my  plan  contained  good  ideas ;  but  that 
he  did  not  think  it  expedient  to  adopt  it  at  this  time,  as  it  might 
still  further  irritate  the  English  against  Russia,  and  that  it 
was  necessary  first  to  make  peace  with  the  Turks. 

"  I  might  make  many  remarks  about  the  fleet  and  flotilla  of 
Cherson,  but  shall  say  but  little  at  present.  I  have  already  ob- 
served that  the  Turkish  vessels,  large  and  small,  have  a  decided 
advantage  over  the  Russians,  in  their  movement.  The  Marshal 
de  Saxe  said  of  land  armies,  that '  the  whole  secret  of  their 
drill,  and  all  that  of  war,  is  dans  lesjambes.'  [Basting  the  legs, 
according  to  Touchstone.]  This  expression,  apparently  obscure, 
envelops  a  profound  and  sensible  meaning,  and  may  be  applied 
with  still  more  force  to  the  operations  of  naval  armaments.  Let 
me  command  a  fleet  superior  in  its  sailing,  and  equal  in  force — to 
beat  the  enemy.  I  learned  with  regret,  that  the  vessels  of  war 
built  at  Cherson  became  rotten,  in  general,  at  the  end  of  six  years. 
This  seems  to  me  more  extraordinary,  as  before  the  present 
war,  France  got  excellent  timber  for  building,  from  the  Dnieper 
for  the  king's  yards  at  Toulon.  It  is  said  that  the  admiralty  of 
the  Black  Sea  spends  enormous  sums  yearly.  1  cannot  vouch  for 
the  correctness  of  the  statement ;  but  I  know  that  the  fleet  does 
not  look  like  it.  In  Denmark,  where  order  and  economy  prevail, 
persons  entitled  to  credit  have  informed  me,  that  it  costs  the 
State  but  5,050,000  rix  dollars,  per  annum,  to  maintain  a  fleet  of 
from  25  to  30  ships  of  the  line,  with  frigates  and  other  small 
vessels  in  proportion,  and  4000  seamen  in  regular  pay.  The 
ships  of  war  built  at  Copenhagen,  last  sixteen  years,  without 
requiring  any  repairs  of  consequence.  My  respect  for  Prince 
Potemkin,  who  created  the  fleet  of  the  Liman,  makes  me  regret 
that  it  should  have  been  built  on  false  principles,  unable  to  sus- 
tain its  enormous  artillery,  or  to  manoeuvre  properly  on  the 
Black  Sea ;  while  the  Turkish  fleet  crossed  it  at  its  pleasure. 
The  commerce  of  the  Black  Sea  is  an  object  of  great  impor- 


462  PAUL   JONES. 

tance ;  but  this  commerce,  so  advantageous  to  Russia,  will 
always  be  annoyed  and  often  interrupted  by  the  Turks,  till  Rus 
sia  has  a  stronger  fleet  in  the  Black  Sea  to  hold  a  rod  over 
them,  and  to  place  the  keys  of  Constantinople  in  the  hands  of 
the  empress.  Russia  having  all  the  requisite  materials,  in 
making  the  necessary  arrangements  with  order  and  economy, 
(without  speaking  of  war,  to  avoid  exciting  suspicions  in  powers 
jealous  of  her  glory,)  this  deficiency  might  be  supplied  in  a  few 
years.  The  means  of  obtaining  good  seamen  is  to  create  a 
merchant  trade,  to  form  an  alliance  with  the  United  States, 
and  to  have  a  squadron  of  evolution  on  the  Black  Sea,  directed 
by  an  admiral  and  a  properly  instructed  staff*. 

"  I  have  always  believed  that  Russia  requires  a  port  on  the 
Asiastic  side,  opposite  the  Crimea,  to  protect  the  fleet  from 
flaws  of  wind  and  currents,  and  to  be,  as  it  were,  a  sentinel  post 
on  the  Turks.  I  have  thought  of  Sinople  for  this  purpose,  and 
I  spoke  of  it  to  the  empress  and  Prince  Potemkin  ;  but,  being 
better  informed,  I  found  a  more  suitable  situation,  where  I  am 
certain  such  a  post  could  be  securely  established  at  small  cost, 
and  beard  the  whole  Ottoman  empire.  This  place  is  a  penin- 
sula between  Sinople  and  Constantinople. 

"  I  must  be  permitted  to  conclude  my  journal  with  some  re- 
flections naturally  suggested  by  matters  affecting  my  personal 
honour.  I  have  never  been  able  to  conjecture  the  reason  which 
made  Prince  Potemkin  order  Admiral  MordwinofF  to  give  up 
to  him  the  official  account  of  our  operations,  which  I  had  drawn 
up  in  conformity  to  the  orders  of  the  admiralty  of  the  Black 
Sea,  as  I  was  assured  he  had  done,  both  by  Admiral  Mordwi- 
nofF and  his  brother-in-law,  (his  wife's  brother.)  No  more  could 
I  gue^ss  why  Prince  Potemkin  had  given  orders  that  no  notice 
should  be  taken  of  my  loss  of  the  frigate  Alexander,  which  was 
run  aground  in  the  battle  of  the  17th  June.  This  information 
also  I  had  from  Admiral  MordwinofF  after  I  had  given  up  to  him 
the  command  of  the  squadron.  I  have  been  assured,  by  him, 
that  this  frigate  was,  in  consequence,  always  retained  on  the 
list  of  the  marine.  When  I  found  that  I  received  no  testimony 


PAUL   JONES.  463 

of  the  satisfaction  of  the  empress,  with  my  conduct,  in  this  af- 
fair, and  on  other  occasions  very  interesting  to  the  empire,  I 
was  compelled  to  think  that  she  had  been  ill  informed,  for  her 
ambition  is  to  be  esteemed  the  most  magnanimous  and  the  most 
generous  of  all  sovereigns.  I  received  a  letter  from  the  minis- 
ter of  the  United  States  (to  the  court  of  Versailles,)  dr.ted  Paris, 
the  23d  March,  1789,  which  began  by  telling  me,  that  a  letter 
he  had  received  from  me,  dated  at  St.  Petersburgh,  the  31st 
January,  was  the  only  proof  my  friends  had  of  my  existence  since  I 
had  left  Copenhagen.*  If  I  had  played  the  part  of  a  cipher  in 
the  campaign  of  the  Liman,  it  was  for  the  first  time.  I  either 
deserved  to  lose  my  head,  or  the  plans  of  the  operations  on  the 
Liman,  which  had  been  got  up  in  St.  Petersburgh  during  the 
winter,  and  which  I  sawr  with  astonishment  in  the  office  of  M. 
Popoff,  ought  to  be  burnt.  I  assert,  that  they  are  false  even  in 
the  most  trifling  details. 

"  I  have  acted  a  public,  and  distinguished  part  for  fifteen  years 
among  an  enlightened  people,  where  the  press  is  free,  and  where 
the  whole  conduct  of  every  man  is  open  to  discussion,  and  sub- 
ject to  the  judgment  of  his  fellow-citizens.  No  man  can  play 
the  hypocrite  during  so  long  a  period  in  a  career  so  trying  as 
was  mine.  It  was  natural  for  the  prince  of  Nassau  and  Briga- 
dier Alexiano  to  be  my  enemies,  for  they  both  sought  only  their 
own  advantage  ;  and  Prince  Potemkin,  who  knew  better,  erred 
in  judgment  in  placing  me  in  competition  with  them  ;  but  how 


*  In  Russia,  letters  were  systematically  intercepted.  This  was  part  of  the  policy  of 
the  government ;  and  such  things  have  been  heard  of  in  that  country,  even  of  later 
date  than  the  reign  of  Catherine  II.  When  the  Archduke  Paul  was  permitted  to 
travel  through  Europe  with  the  archduchess,  he  was  so  well  aware  of  the  jealousy  of 
his  mother  and  her  government,  that  he  arranged  a  private  correspondence  to  be  for- 
warded to  the  Swedish  post-offices  by  couriers.  Kis  correspondent  was  a  young  aid- 
de-camp,  BibikofF,  who  sometimes  permitted  himself  to  describe  persons  about  the 
court  without  sufficient  regard  to  decorum.  Among  those  honoured  with  his  notice 
was  One  Eye,  as  he  termed  Potemkin.  The  courier  was  intercepted  at  Riga,  and 
Paul's  witty  correspondent  was  exiled  to  Astracan,  where  he  shortly  died. — Note,  in  the 
Edinburgh  Life. 


464  PAUL  JONES. 

happened  it  that  I  had  around  Prince  Potemkin  other  enemies 
as  powerful  as  they  were  malicious  ?  I  ought  to  have  found  only 
friends  in  Russia,  for  I  have  served  that  empire  faithfully  and 
well.  The  manner  in  which  Prince  Potemkin  has  changed  in 
regard  to  me,  since  the  commencement  of  the  war,  exceeds  all 
imagination.  While  he  supposed,  at  first,  that  my  services  would 
be  an  acquisition  in  directing  the  maritime  operations  against 
the  Turks,  the  Admirals  Mordwinoff  and  Woynowitch  entirely 
lost  his  confidence  as  officers ;  and  it  is  evident,  that  Woynowitch 
had  not  regained  it  on  the  19th  of  August,  when  it  was  proposed 
that  I  should  go  to  Sevastopole  to  take  command  of  the  fleet. 
When  I  had  the  misfortune  to  offend  Prince  Potemkin  by  the 
freedom  of  my  letter  of  the  14th  October,  he  sent  several  cou- 
riers, which  carried  entreaties  and  brought  back  refusals,  beg- 
ging that  Admiral  Mordwinoff  would  take  command  of  the 
squadron,  which  the  latter  only  at  last  accepted  on  condition  of 
receiving  carte  blanche,  and  insisting  that  the  prince  should  not 
interfere  in  any  arrangements  he  thought  fit  to  make.  I  have 
mentioned  that  the  Dnieper  was  frozen  over  the  day  after  my 
arrival  at  Cherson.  In  consequence,  the  squadron  and  flotilla 
were  placed  in  danger,  from  not  having  been  properly  secured, 
for  the  season,  after*  the  departure  of  the  capitan  pacha.  I 
understood  that  some  of  the  vessels  were  lost  in  the  Liman,  and 
that  the  Wolodimer,  to  save  herself,  was  obliged  to  risk  the  pas- 
sage to  Sevastopole  without  a  good  part  of  her  ballast.  Briefly, 
in  a  few  days  after  my  departure  from  Cherson,  Admiral  Mord- 
winoff was  disgraced  and  sent  from  the  service,  whilst  Admiral 
Woynowitch,  who  had  married  the  daughter  of  Alexiano,  was 
placed  at  the  head  of  the  admiralty,  with  the  chief  command  of 
the  fleet,  and  the  entire  confidence  of  Prince  Potemkin. 

"  It  is  said,  that  Russia  has  no  longer  need  of  foreign  naval 
officers.  So  be  it.  No  one  is  more  desirous  than  myself  that 
this  may  be  so,  for  I  cannot  be  jealous  of  any  of  them,  and  I 
must  ever  desire  the  prosperity  of  a  country  I  have  served.  I 
may,  however,  be  allowed  to  observe,  that  this  opinion  is  not 
very  old.  If  it  had  been  believed  before  the  last  campaign,  why 


PAUL   JONES.  465 

were  my  services  so  anxiously  sought  after  ?  It  assuredly  could 
not  have  been  in  compliment  to  me,  nor  in  order  afterwards  to 
make  use  of  me  in  promoting  certain  political  designs.  I  have 
frequently  heard,  that,  since  the  war  with  Sweden,  measures 
have  been  taken  to  induce  Rear  Admiral  Kinsbergen  to  quit 
Holland,  and  re-enter  the  service  of  Russia.  His  countrymen 
allege  that  he  had  been  offered  the  rank  of  vice  admiral,  the 
order  of  Alexander  Nevsky,  and  a  fixed  revenue  of  20,000 
roubles  a  year  ;  and  that  he  refused  all  these  advantages,  as  he 
had  lately  married  a  wife  with  a  fortune  which  enabled  him  to 
live  in  independence  in  his  own  country. 

"  It  is  known  that  the  king  of  Sweden  made  advantageous 
offers  to  Admiral  Curtis  of  the  English  navy,  to  induce  him  to 
take  command  of  the  fleet  against  Russia;  and  that  this  officer 
declined  them,  not  wishing  to  hazard  his  professional  reputation 
in  command  of  a  fleet  which  was  not  in  so  good  a  condition  as 
that  of  England. 

"  The  empress  will  do  me  the  justice  to  remember,  that  when 
I  had  the  honour  of  accepting  her  service,  I  did  not  say  one 
word  regarding  my  personal  interests.  I  have  a  soul  too  noble 
for  that ;  and  if  my  heart  had  not  been  enlisted  for  her  majesty, 
I  would  never  have  drawn  my  sword  in  her  cause.  I  have  now 
nothing  for  it  but,  like  Admiral  Kinsbergen,  to  marry  a  rich  wife ; 
but  I  have  sufficient  to  support  me  wherever  I  choose,  and  I 
know  enough  of  the  world  to  be  a  philosopher. 

"When  I  arrived  at  the  Black  Sea,  if  reasons  much  stronger 
than  those  which  withheld  Admiral  Curtis  had  not  influenced 
my  mind  and  heart,  which  were  devoted  to  the  empress,  I  would 
never  have  hoisted  my  flag  on  board  the  Wolodimer.  I  would 
have  refused  the  poor  command  offered  me,  and  which  was  in 
no  respect  worthy  of  me.  I  have  never  puffed  my  own  actions, 
nor  given  any  piece  to  the  press  containing  a  eulogy  on  myself. 

"  I  respect  the  names  of  Kinsbergen  and  C.urtis ;  but  the 
first  duty  of  a  gentleman  is  to  respect  his  own  character ;  and 
I  believe,  without  vanity,  that  the  name  of  Paul  Jones  is  of  as 
much  value  as  theirs.  It  is  thirty  years  since  I  first  served  ; 

58 


466  PAUL    JONES. 

ana  I  have  had  for  friends  and  instructors  a  d'Orvilliers  and  a 
Pavilion.  Unfortunately  Prince  Poternkin  never  gave  himself 
the  trouble  to  know  me. 

"  I  had  the  happiness  to  be  loved  by  my  officers  and  men,  be- 
cause I  treated  them  justly,  and  set  them  a  good  example  before 
the  enemy.  After  I  ceased  to  command,  though  the  campaign 
only  lasted  a  few  days,  the  seamen  soon  found  the  difference. 
They  said  they  had  lost  their  father  :  they  were  served  with 
mouldy  bread,'  and  afterwards  with  spoiled  meal.  I  have  men- 
tioned, that  Prince  Potemkin  had  promised,  in  presence  of  Ad- 
miral Mordwinoff,  to  advance  the  officers  under  my  command, 
and  to  restore  to  them  the  seniority  they  had  lost  by  the  promo- 
tion of  the  officers  of  the  flotilla ;  but  I  have  learnt  with  much 
pain  that  he  has  not  kept  his  word,  and  that  in  consequence  my 
officers,  to  the  number  of  fifty,  have  demanded  their  dismission. 
Not  one  of  them  offered  to  resign  while  I  held  command.  Ad- 
miral Woynowitch  having  represented  to  Prince  Potemkin  that 
without  these  officers  the  fleet  was  useless,  he  was  compelled  to  ad- 
vance them  all.  I  have  been  told  that  they  were  not  yet  satisfied, 
as  they  were  not  restored  to  their  seniority,  and  that  they  propo- 
sed to  quit  the  service  at  the  end  of  the  year.  I  hope  justice  will 
be  done  them,  for  they  are  brave  men.  For  myself  I  have  been 
marked  among  all  the  officers  that  served  in  the  Liman,  being 
the  only  one  who  obtained  no  promotion,  though  I  commanded 
and  was  alone  responsible !  I  may  be  told  that  I  ought  to  be  satis- 
fied with  having  received  the  rank  of  rear  admiral  on  entering 
the  service.  I  reply,  that  I  could  not  have  been  offered  an  in- 
ferior grade.  One  officer  may  deserve  as  much  in  a  day  as 
another  in  a  lifetime,  and  every  officer  ought  to  be  advanced 
according  to  his  merit.  I  was  not  favoured  in  rank  on  entering 
the  Russian  service.  I  had  a  full  right  to  claim  that  which  I 
accepted.  A  man,  only  twenty-four  years  of  age,  has  since 
been  received,  into  the  service  with  the  rank  of  major  general. 
I  wish  to  say  nothing  against  this  officer  ;  it  is  not  always  years 
that  give  skill,  much  less  genius,  but  he  must  do  a  great  deal 
before  he  has  my  experience. 


PAUL   JONES.  467 

"  It  is  painful,  for  the  honour  of  human  nature,  to  reflect  on 
how  many.malevolent  and  deceitful  persons  surround  the  great, 
and  particularly  crowned  heads.  I  speak  from  my  own  unhap- 
py experience.  Some  persons  had  the  malice  to  make  Prince 
Potemkin  believe  that  I  made  unhandsome  strictures  on  his 
military  conduct,  and  ridiculed  his  manner  of  conducting  the 
siege  of  Oczakow.  I  have  heard  much  idle  talk  on  this  sub- 
ject, and  I  am  aware  that  it  excited  considerable  discontent  in 
the  army.  I  was  told,  during  my  illness  at  Cherson,  that  a 
thousand  of  his  officers  had  demanded  their  dismission  ;  but  I 
defy  any  one  to  say  to  my  face  that  I  ever  allowed  myself  to 
criticise  his  operations.  I  have  been  strongly  attached  to  him, 
of  which  I  think  I  gave  proofs  during  my  command,  and  even 
after  he  unjustly  superseded  me.  Witness  my  letter  of  the  27th 
October,  at  a  time  when  I  certainly  had  reason  to  complain  of 
his  conduct  towards  me. 

"  I  have  been  more  deeply  hurt  by  those  secret  machinations 
against  me,  as  regards  the  empress.  My  enemies  have  had  the 
wickedness  to  make  her  believe  that  I  was  a  cruel  and  bruta« 
man  ;  and  that  I  had,  during  the  American  war,  even  killed  my 
own  nephew ! 

"  It  is  well  known,  that,  from  motives  of  revenge,  the  English 
have  invented  and  propagated  a  thousand  fictions  and  atrocities 
to  endeavour  to  blacken  the  character  of  the  celebrated  men 
who  effected  the  American  revolution  :  a  Washington  and  a 
Franklin,  two  of  the  most  illustrious  and  virtuous  men  that  have 
ever  adorned  humanity,  have  not  been  spared  by  these  calum- 
niators. Are  they  now  the  less  respected  on  this  account  by 
their  fellow-citizens  ?  On  the  contrary,  they  are  universally  re- 
vered, even  in  Europe,  as  the  fathers  of  their  country,  and  as 
examples  of  all  that  is  great  and  noble  in  the  human  character. 

"  In  civil  war,  it  is  not  wonderful  that  opposite  factions  should 
mutually  endeavour  to  make  it  believed  that  each  is  in  the  right ; 
and  it  is  obvious  that  the  party  most  in  the  wrong  will  always 
be  the  most  calumnious.  If  there  had  really  been  any  thing 
against  my  character,  the  English  would  not  have  failed  to  fur- 


468  PAUL   JONES. 

nish  convincing  proofs  of  it ;  for,  with  very  slender  means,  I  had 
been  able  to  give  more  alarm  to  their  three  kingdoms  during 
the  war  than  any  other  individual  had  done. 

"  I  have  heard,  that,  at  the  period  of  my  entering  the  Rus- 
sian service,  the  English  in  St.  Petersburgh  cried  out  against 
me,  and  asserted  that  I  had  been  a  contraband  trader.  All  the 
world  knows  that  men  of  this  flescription  are  actuated  entirely 
by  avarice ;  and  every  one  to  whom  I  have  the  honour  to  be 
known  is  aware  that  I  am  one  of  the  least  selfish  of  mankind. 
This  is  known  to  the  whole  American  people.  I  have  given 
proofs  of  it  not  easily  shown,  of  which  I  possess  very  flattering 
testimonies.  In  a  letter  written  on  the  29th  November,  1782,  to 
Congress,  by  Mr.  Morris,  then  minister  of  the  marine  and  finance 
departments,  after  having  made  my  eulogium  with  the  warmth 
of  a  true  patriot,  who  thoroughly  knew  me,  he  says,  that  '  I  had 
certainly  merited  the  favour  of  Congress  by  services  and  sacri- 
fices the  most  signal.'  Men  do  not  change  their  characters  in 
these  respects. 

"  If  my  heart  has  bled  for  the  Americans,  above  all,  for  those 
shut  up  as  victims  in  English  prisons  by  an  act  of  Parliament  as 
sanguinary  as  unjust ;  if  I  have  exposed  my  health  and  life  to 
the  greatest  dangers ;  if  I  have  sacrificed  my  personal  tranquilli- 
ty and  my  domestic  happiness,  with  a  portion  of  my  fortune  and 
my  blood,  to  set  at  liberty  these  virtuous  and  innocent  men,  have 
I  not  given  proofs  sufficiently  striking  that  I  have  a  heart  the 
most  sensitive,  a  soul  the  most  elevated  ?  I  have  done  more  than 
all  this.  So  far  from  being  harsh  and  cruel,  nature  has  given 
me  the  mildest  disposition.  I  was  formed  for  love  and  friend- 
ship, and  not  to  be  a  seamen  or  a  soldier;  as  it  is,  I  have  sacri- 
ficed my  natural  inclination. 

"  As  an  officer,  I  loved  good  discipline,  which  I  consider  indis- 
pensable to  the  success  of  operations,  particularly  at  sea,  where 
men  are  so  much  crowded  and  brought  into  such  close  contact. 
In  the  English  navy  it  is  known  that  captains  of  ships  are  often 
tyrants,  who  order  the  lash  for  the  poor  seamen  very  frequently, 
and  sometimes,  for  nothing.  In  the  American  navy  we  have 


PAUL   JONES.  469 

almost  the  same  regulations ;  but  I  looked  on  my  crew  as  my 
children,  and  I  have  always  found  means  to  manage  them  with- 
out flogging. 

"  I  never  had  a  nephew,  nor  any  other  relation,  under  my 
command.  Happily  these  facts  are  known  in  America,  and 
they  prove  how  cruel  and  harsh  I  am.  I  have  one  dear  nephew,* 
who  is  still  too  young  for  service,  but  who  now  pursues  his 
studies.  Since  I  came  to  Russia  I  have  intended  him  for  the 
imperial  marine.  Instead  of  imbruing  my  hands  in  his  blood, 
he  will  be  cherished  as  my  son. 

"  In  short,  my  conduct  has  obtained  for  me  the  returns  most 
grateful  to  my  heart.  I  have  had  the  happiness  to  give  univer- 
sal satisfaction  to  two  great  and  enlightened  nations  which  I 
have  served.  Of  this  I  have  received  singular  proofs.  I  am 
the  only  man  in  the  world  that  possesses  a  sword  given  by  the 
king  of  France.  It  is  to  me  a  glorious  distinction  to  wear  it; 
and,  above  all,  to  have  received  it  as  '  a  proof  of  the  particular 
esteem'  of  a  monarch  so  august,  a  monarch  who  has  become  the 
protector  of  the  rights  of  the  human  race,  and  who  adds  to  this 
glorious  title  that  of  a  citizen  !  I  have  indelible  proofs  of  the  high 
considerations  of  the  United  States ;  but  what  completes  my 
happiness  is  the  esteem  and  friendship  of  the  most  virtuous  of 
men,  whose  fame  will  be  immortal ;  and  that  a  Washington,  a 
Franklin,  a  D'Estai.ng,  a  La  Fayette,  think  the  bust  of  Paul 
Jones  worthy  of  being  placed  side  by  side  with  their  own.  It  is 
then  certain  that  this  is  not  the  bust  of  one,  &c.t 

"  Since  I  am  found  too  frank  and  too  sincere  to  make  my 
way  at  the  court  of  Russia  without  creating  powerful  enemies, 
I  have  philosophy  enough  to  withdraw  into  the  peaceful  bosom 
of  friendship  ;  but,  as  I  love  virtue  better  than  reward,  and  as 
my  greatest  ambition  is  to  preserve,  even  in  the  shades  of  re- 
treat, the  precious  favour  of  the  empress,  I  may  tell  her  majesty, 


*  The  late  Mr.  William  Taylor,  merchant  of  the  city  of  New  York,  son  of  the  rear 
admiral's  eldest  aiater,  the  late  Mrs.  Taylor  of  Dumfries. 
t  He  alludes  to  some  calumnies,  as  foolish  as  base,  not  worthy  of  notice. 


470  PAUL   JONES. 

that  even  in  the  midst  of  my  persecutions,  my  mind  was  occu- 
pied by  plans  for  the  essential  advancement  of  her  service,  of 
which  I  gave  some  idea  to  her  minister  in  June  last,  (1789.)  I 
have  not  entered  into  any  detail,  for  there  are  politicians  who 
before  now  have  robbed  me  of  my  military  plans.  I  have  other 
projects  in  view  from  which  the  flag  of  Russia  might  derive  new 
lustre,  and  which  would  cost  but  little  to  her  majesty  at  the  out- 
set, and  perhaps  nothing  in  the  end,  if  I  had  the  direction ;  for 
I  would  be  able  to  make  war  support  war.  We  have  already  done 
it  in  America,  and  our  marine  has  cost  the  United  States  nothing. 
At  all  events,  I  have  the  satisfaction  of  having  done  my  duty  in 
Russia,  and  that  without  any  views  of  self-interest.*  It  is  af- 
firmed, that,  in  general,  strangers  who  come  to  Russia  are  ad- 
venturers in  search  of  fortune,  not  having  the  means  of  living  in 
their  own  country.  I  cannot  say  as  to  this  ;  but  I  at  least  hope 
that  the  empress  will  not  class  me  with  those. 

"  Briefly,  I  am  satisfied  with  myself;  and  I  have  the  happi- 
ness to  know,  that,  though  my  enemies  may  not  be  converted 
into  friends,  my  name  will  nevertheless  be  always  respected  by 
worthy  men  who  know  me  ;  and  it  is  to  me  a  satisfaction  and  a 
signal  triumph  at  the  moment  of  my  leaving  Russia,  that  the 
public,  and  even  the  English  in  St.  Petersburgh,  with  whom  I 
had  no  connexion,  have  now  changed  their  sentiments  in  regard 
to  me,  give  me  their  esteem,  and  regret  my  departure. 

"  St.  Petersburgh,  July  29, 1789." 

CONCLUSION. 

"  The  art  of  war  deserves  the  exclusive  attention  of  those 
who  are  to  be  engaged  in  it ;  and  military  science  is  only  acqui- 
red by  dint  of  study,  of  reflections,  and  of  combinations.  This 

. 

*  The  last  of  the  Pieces  Justificatives  is  a  certificate  from  his  secretary,  Dmitreffsky, 
that  the  rear  admiral  had  never  received  the  appointments  belonging  to  his  grade,  nor 
money  for  the  expenses  of  his  family,  suite,  servants,  table,  &c.  nor  for  those  attending 
his  journey,  after  his  recall  from  the  Liman. 


PAUL   JONES.  471 

study,  commenced  at  an  early  season,  constantly  followed  up 
during  life,  and  aided  by  continued  experience,  will  hardly  be- 
come familiar  in  all  its  parts  to  him  who  pursues  it.  Some 
occasion  will  infallibly  happen,  when  pungent  regrets  for  having 
neglected  to  obtain  instruction,  will  be  felt  in  all  their  force,  by 
him,  who,  being  charged  with  an  important  operation,  is  obliged 
to  confess  to  himself  his  own  incapacity  to  execute  it.  The  time 
has  gone  by  for  beginning  to  attend  to  such  study,  when  he  has 
unfortunately  been  promoted  to  a  command.  Birth,  patronage, 
solicitation,  intrigue,  sometimes  win  employment  and  rank  ;  but 
they  do  not  secure  success  and  credit. 

"  As  the  profession  of  arms  is  so  honourable,  and  those  who 
hold  commands  acquire  a  reputation  at  once  so  brilliant  and  so 
solid  when  they  discharge  their  duties  worthily  ;  and  as,  on  the 
other  hand,  nothing  is  so  disgraceful  as  a  repulse  received  in 
war,  through  our  own  fault ;  with  what  ardour  should  not  of- 
ficers who  have  any  passion  for  true  glory,  seek  to  provide  them- 
selves abundantly  with  all  the  variety  of  knowledge,  which  may, 
some  day,  put  them  in  the  way  of  becoming  distinguished  ? 

"  Courage  alone,  will  not  lead  to  renown,  as  many  fondly 
believe.  The  road  would  be  too  easy.  The  fate  of  courage, 
devoid  of  the  lights  which  a  knowledge  of  the  principles  of  the 
art  communicates,  is,  to  be  ignorant  of  danger,  to  confront  it, 
and  to  perish  to  no  purpose  ;  often  even  without  the  satisfac- 
tion, in  perishing,  of  knowing  that  the  manner  of  its  fall  was 
intrepid. 

"  It  would  appear  that  the  study  of  an  art,  of  which  all  the 
details  are  so  interesting,  the  knowledge  of  which  is  connected 
with  an  infinite  number  of  facts  naturally  exciting  quick  curiosity, 
the  principles  of  which  are  scattered  through  the  histories  of  all 
nations,  must  have  inspiring  attractions  for  those  who  de- 
sire to  rise  in  their  profession  as  high  as  they  are  permitted  to 
hope  for,  and  a  taste  for  it,  which  cannot  but  redound  to  their 
advantage,  by  conducting  them,  through  the  true  path,  to  the 
promotion  they  covet.  Such  promotion  cannot  be  flattering  to 
men  of  sense,  unless  they  have  the  satisfaction  of  knowing  that 


472  PATJL   JONES. 

they  deserved  it ;  and  that  consciousness  is,  of  itself,  sufficient 
to  console  those,  whose  success  calumniators  have  made  it  their 
business  to  prevent." 


Thus  ends  the  rear  admiral's  own  account  of  what  befel  him 
in  the  course  of  his  engagement  in  the  Russian  service.     His- 
torical illustrations  or  speculative  comments  are  not  demanded 
in  this  volume.     The  reader  will  most  readily  find  an  off-hand 
and  probably  graphic  sketch  of  the  prince  of  Nassau,  in  the  Me- 
moirs and  Recollections  of  Count  Segur.     It  tallies  well  with 
the  idea  of  his  character  thrown  out  by  Mr.  Littlepage,  in  his 
letters,  which  have  been  cited.     Jones  accuses  him  of  a  want  of 
courage.     Personal  timidity  seems  to  have  been  implied  in  the 
charge ;  but  this  was  not  his  weakness.     A  soldier  of  fortune, 
he  was  encumbered  with  the  pride  belonging  to  birth  and  title  ; 
and  while  he  sought  for  the  command  of  fleets,  he  wanted  science 
and  moral   energy.     It  may  not  be  a  hyperbole,  when  Jones 
says,  that  though  he  had  sailed  round  the  world,  he  did  not  un- 
derstand the   points   of  the  compass.     He  is  stated  to  have 
solicited  and  obtained  his   recall   from    his   command  in   the 
Liman,  previously  to  the  dismissal  of  Jones,  in  consequence  of 
taunts  thrown  out  by  Potemkin. 

Potemkin's  character  belongs  to  history.  Various  as  the 
portraits  are  which  have  been  drawn  of  it,  the  reader  of  Jones' 
own  narrative  will  find  in  it  sufficient  cause  of  provocation,  to 
account  for  the  conduct  of  that  imperious  and  spoiled  com 
mander.  He  was  not  accustomed  to  receiving  arguments 
instead  of  obedience  ;  and  would  rather  have  lost  an  important 
advantage  to  the  empire  than  tolerated  contradiction  of  his  own 
pleasure.  It  is  a  question  whether  what  seemed  noble  in  his 
character  belonged  to  its  elements,  or  was  put  on  with  his  great- 
ness, as  an  extraneous  luxury.  He  closed  his  life  like  a 
changeling,  and  a  drivelling  idiot. 


In  the  notes  subjoined  to  the  campaign  of  the  Liman,  the 
papers  annexed  by  the  admiral  have  alone  been  cited.     It  is 


PAUL   JONES.  473 

necessary  to  refer  back,  in  point  of  time,  to  some  portions  of  his 
correspondence  during  this  period,  and  to  explain  other  parts  of 
his  narrative  more  at  large. 

There  are  a  few  letters  from  the  rear  admiral  to  Potemkin, 
not  inserted  among  the  Pieces  Justificatives,  as  arranged  by  him- 
self, and  which  he  did  not  therefore  attach  consequence  to,  as 
vouchers  for  the  accuracy  of  his  statements.  Their  substance 
being  stated  in  the  Journal,  we  shall  not  introduce  them.  When 
Mr.  Littlepage  left  the  Liman,  the  rear  admiral  despatched 
letters  by  him  to  Mr.  Jefferson.  He  was  uncertain,  as  it  ap- 
pears from  them,  whether  those  last  addressed  by  him  to  the 
same  gentleman,  from  Copenhagen,  had  been  received.  The 
anxiety  he  expressed  about  some  of  the  features  of  the  American 
Constitution,  shows  that  his  thoughts  turned  to  the  land  of  his 
adoption,  and  the  country  which  was  in  fact  his  own.  In  one 
of  these  letters  the  following  passage  occurs.  "  I  pray  you  to 

inform  me,  if  you  possibly  can,  what  has  become  of  Mrs.  T . 

I  am  astonished  to  have  heard  nothing  from  her  since  I  left 
Paris.  I  had  written  to  her  frequently,  before  I  left  Copen- 
hagen. If  you  cannot  hear  of,  and  see  her,  you  wiH  oblige  me 
much  by  writing  a  note  to  Monsieur  Dubois,  Commissaire  du 
Regiment  des  Guardes  Francais,-vis  a  vis  la  Rue  de  Vivienne, 
Rue  neuve  des  petits  Champs,  desiring  to  speak  with  him.  He 
will  wait  on  you  immediately.  You  must  know,  that  besides  my 
own  purse,  which  was  very  considerable,  I  was  good  natured, 
or,  if  you  please,  foolish  enough  to  borrow  for  her,  four  thousand 
four  hundred  livres.  Now  Mr.  Dubois  knows  that  transaction, 
and  as  she  received  the  money  entire  from  me  for  the  reim- 
bursement, I  wish  to  know  if  she  has  acquitted  the  debt  ?  When 
that  affair  is  cleared  up,  I  shall  be  better  able  to  judge  of  the 
rest." 

This  extract  is  introduced  for  a  twofold  reason.  In  the  first 
place,  Jones  would  not  have  written  to  Mr.  Jefferson  in  relation 
to  his  transactions  with  a  lady  of  loose  reputation.  In  the 
second,  it  has  been  previously  stated,  that  no  traces  of  his  cor- 
respondence with  Madame  T were  found  after  his  last 

59 


474  PAUL   JONES. 

letter  from  America.  This  lady,  as  the  editor  is  informed,  is 
not  to  be  confounded  with  Madame  Tellison,  spoken  of  in  some 
of  the  biographies  of  Jones. 

In  the  same  letters,  he  requested  that  his  bust  might  be  for- 
warded to  several  persons  in  America,  to  whom  he  had  pro- 
mised it  should  be  transmitted.  This  bust,  according  to  Baron 
Grimm,  was  executed  at  the  request  of  the  Lodge  of  Nine  Sis- 
ters, of  which  Jones  was  a  member.  The  gentlemen  to  whom 
he  desired  that  casts  might  be  forwarded,  were,  "  General  St. 
Clair,  and  Mr.  Ross,  of  Philadelphia ;  Mr.  John  Jay,  General 
Irvine,  Mr.  Secretary  Thompson,  and  Colonel  Wadsworth,  of 
New  York ;  Mr.  J.  Madison,  and  Colonel  Carrington,  of 
Virginia." 

He  also  requested  that  four  gold  medals  might  be  struck  for 
him,  from  the  die  ordered  by  Congress  to  be  executed,  in  honour 
of  his  services.  "  I  must,"  he  said,  "  present  one  to  the  United 
States,  another  to  the  king  of  France,  and  I  cannot  do  less  than 
offer  one  to  the  empress.  As  you  will  keep  the  dies  for  me,  it 
is  my  intention  to  have  some  more  gold  medals  struck  ;  there- 
fore I  beg  you,  in  the  mean  time,  not  to  permit  the  striking  of  a 
single  silver  or  copper  medal." 

In  the  same  letters,  dated  on  the  9th  of  September,  (N.  S.) 
he  speaks  doubtingly  of  the  manner  in  which  his  situation  in  the 
Russian  service  might  terminate.  Clinging  to  the  glory  already 
gained,  and  the  nobler  triumphs  already  won,  he  seems  to  have 
been  more  interested  about  the  reception  of  one  of  his  journals 
by  the  Academy  of  Inscriptions  and  Belles  Letters,  and  the 
designs  of  medals  executed  in  wax  commemorating  his  naval 
victories,  than  in  the  progress  of  the  empress's  arms.  On 
the  latter  subject,  however,  it  was  not  proper  for  him  to  speak 
in  these  communications. 

Jones  arrived  at  St.  Petersburgh  on  the  28th  December, 
after  being  detained  at  St.  Elizabeth  by  the  indisposition  which 
he  mentions,  and  on  the  day  following  addressed  the  Compte  de 
Morminoff,  desiring  as  early  an  opportunity  as  possible  of  pre- 
senting Potemkin's  letter,  of  which  he  was  the  bearer,  to  the 


PAUL   JONES.  475 

empress.  This  communication  is  noticed,  as  it  is  preserved 
among  his  papers.  It  is  written  strictly  selon  les  regies,  and 
speaks  of  his  eternal  gratitude  to  her  majesty,  &c.  In  January 
following,  while  writing,  with  probably  no  hope,  on  the  promise 
of  the  Count  Besborodko,  that  he  should  have  a  command  of 
more  importance  than  that  of  the  fleet  of  the  Black  Sea,  we  find 
him  congratulating  Mr.  Jefferson  on  the  adoption  of  the  Ame- 
rican Constitution,  and  anticipating  from  it  the  establishment 
of  a  marine  force.  The  castigation  of  the  Algerines  was  the 
foremost  subject  which  occupied  his  mind.  "  If,"  he  said, 
"  there  is  still  a  disposition  to  send  a  force  against  the  Algerines, 
would  it  not  be  a  good  thing  to  conclude  a  treaty  with  this 
country,  and  make  the  war  a  common  cause  in  the  Mediterra- 
nean. The  Turks  and  Algerines  are  together,  and  acted  in 
conjunction  against  us  before  Oczacoff.  A  treaty  might  now 
be  concluded,  permitting  her  imperial  majesty  to  enlist  seamen 
in  America,  and  assuring  to  America  after  the  peace,  a  free 
navigation  to  and  from  the  Black  Sea.  If  you  approve  of  this 
idea  in  general,  various  other  things  will  necessarily  be  engrafted 
in  the  treaty,  and  I  flatter  myself  I  may  obtain  the  command  of 
the  force  destined  to  act  in  conjunction  with  that  of  the  United 
States." 

Two  letters  from  him  to  Mr.  Jefferson,  on  this  theme,  are 
preserved,  and,  as  has  been  seen  by  his  journal,  he  presented  at 
the  time  to  the  Vice  Chancellor  Ostermann  a  project  of  a  com- 
mercial treaty,  and  had  a  conversation  with  Potemkin  on  the 

• 

subject. 

It  was  at  this  time  that  an  infamous  conspiracy  to  ruin  his  cha- 
racter was  got  up,  and  might  have  been  successful,  had  not  the 
friends  of  Jones  assisted  him  with  earnestness,  in  exposing  the 
falsehood  of  the  charges  attempted  to  be  fastened  on  him.  The 
nature  of  these  charges,  with  the  history  of  the  persecution  raised 
upon  them,  will  be  found  in  the  following  letter  to  Potemkin.  Who 
its  authors  were  can  never  be  known.  Both  Count  Segur  and 
Jones  unhesitatingly  ascribe  it  to  English  officers  in  the  Russian 
navy,  and  the  Englisli  merchants.  It  was  the  most  natural 


476  PAUL  JONES. 

supposition,  in  the  absence  of  all  positive  proof;  but  it  was  a 
supposition  only. 

Rear  Admiral  Paul  Jones  to  Prince  Potemkin. 

"  St.  Petersburgh,  13th  April,  1789. 

'  MY  LORD — Having  had  the  advantage  to  serve  under 
your  orders,  and  in  your  sight,  I  remember,  with  particular 
satisfaction,  the  kind  promises  and  testimonies  of  your  friend- 
ship with  which  you  have  honoured  me.  As  I  have  served  all 
my  life  for  honour,  I  had  no  other  motive  for  accepting  the  flat- 
tering invitation  of  her  imperial  majesty,  than  a  laudable 
ambition  to  distinguish  myself  in  the  service  of  a  sovereign  so 
magnanimous  and  illustrious ;  for  I  never  yet  have  bent  the 
knee  to  self-interest,  nor  drawn  my  sword  for  hire.  A  few  days 
ago  I  thought  myself  one  of  the  happiest  men  in  the  empire  ! 
Your  highness  had  renewed  to  me  your  promise  of  friendship, 
and  the  empress  had  assigned  me  a  command  of  a  nature  to 
occupy  the  most  active  and  enterprising  genius. 

"  A  bad  woman  has  accused  me  of  violating  her  daughter  ! 
If  she  had  told  the  truth,  I  should  have  candour  enough  to  own 
it,  and  would  trust  my  honour,  which  is  a  thousand  times  dearer 
to  me  than  my  life,  to  the  mercy  of  the  empress.  I  declare, 
with  an  assurance  becoming  a  military  character,  that  I  am  in- 
nocent. Till  that  unhappy  moment,  I  have  enjoyed  the  public 
esteem,  and  the  affection  of  all  who  knew  rne.  Shall  it  be  §aid 
that  in  Russia  a  wretched  woman,  who  eloped  from  her  husband 
and  family  in  the  country,  stole  away  her  daughter,  lives  here  in 
a  house  of  bad  fame,  and  leads  a  debauched  and  adulterou§  life, 
has  found  credit  enough  on  a  simple  complaint,  unsupported  by 
any  proof,  to  affect  the  honour  of  a  general  officer  of  reputation, 
who  has  merited  and  received  the  decorations  of  America,  of 
France,  and  of  this  empire  ? 

"  If  I  had  been  favoured  with  the  least  intimation  of  a 
complaint  of  that  nature  having  found  its  way  to  the  sove- 
reign, I  know  too  well  what  belongs  to  delicacy  to  have  pre- 


PAUL   JONES.  477 

sented   myself  in   the    presence   of   the   empress   before   my 
justification. 

"  My  servant  was  kept  prisoner  by  the  officers  of  police  for 
several  hours,  two  days  successively,  and  threatened  with  the 
knout. 

"  After  the  examination  of  my  people  before  the  police,  I  sent 
for  and  employed  Monsieur  Crirnpin  as  my  advocate.  As  the 
mother  had  addressed  herself  to  him  before  to  plead  her  cause, 
she  naturally  spoke  to  him  without  reserve,  and  he  learned  from 
her  a  number  of  important  facts,  among  others,  that  she  was 
counselled  and  supported  by  a  distinguished  man  of  the  court. 

"  By  the  certificate  of  the  father,  attested  by  the  pastor  of  the 
colony,  the  daughter  is  several  years  older  than  is  expressed  in 
the  complaint.  And  the  complaint  contains  various  other  points 
equally  false  and  easy  to  be  refuted.  For  instance,  there  is  a 
conversation  I  am  said  to  have  held  with  the  daughter  in  the 
Russian  language,  of  which  no  person  ever  heard  me  pronounce 
two  words  together  :  it  is  unknown  to  me. 

"  I  thought  that  in  every  country  a  man  accused  had  a  right 
to  employ  advocates,  and  to  avail  himself  of  his  friends  for  his 
justification.  Judge,  my  prince,  of  my  astonishment  and  dis 
tress  of  mind,;  when  I  yesterday  was  informed  that  the  day 
before,  the  governor  of  the  city  had  sent  for  my  advocate,  and 
forbidden  him,  at  his  peril,  or  any  other  person,  to  meddle  with 
my  cause  I 

"  I  am  innocent  before  God !  and  my  conscience  knows  no 
reproach.  The  complaint  brought  against  me  is  an  infamous 
lie,  and  there  is  no  circumstance  that  gives  it  even  an  air  of 
probability. 

"  I  address  myself  to  you  with  confidence,  my  prince,  and 
am  assured  that  the  friendship  you  have  so  kindly  promised  me 
will  be  immediately  exerted  in  my  favour;  and  that  you  will  not 
suffer  the  illustrious  sovereign  of  this  great  empire  to  be  misled 
by  the  false  insinuations  and  secret  cabals  of  my  hidden  enemies. 
Your  mind  will  find  more  true  pleasure  in  pleading  the  cause 
of  an  innocent  man  whom  you  honour  with  your  friendship, 


478  PAUL    JONES. 

than  can  result  from  other  victories  equally  glorious  with  that 
of  Oczakovv,  which  will  always  rank  among  the  most  brilliant 
of  military  achievements.  If  your  highness  will  condescend  to 
question  Monsieur  Crimpin,  (for  he  dare  not  now  even  speak  to 
me,)  he  can  tell  you  many  circumstances  which  will  elucidate  my 
innocence.  I  am,  with  profound  respect,  my  lord,  your  high- 
ness's  devoted  and  most  obedient  servant,"  <fcc.  &c. 

' 

The  following  were  the  exculpatory  documents  which  Jones 
was  enabled  to  procure  in  relation  to  this  matter. 

"  I  certify,  that  my  wife,  Fredrica  Sophia  Koltzwarthen,  has 
left  me  without  any  reason  ;  that  she  has  been  living  in  the  city 
with  a  young  man  ;  and  that  she  has  clandestinely,  and  against 
my  will,  taken  away  my  daughter  Catharine  Charlotte,  who 
is  now  living  with  her. 

"  STEPHEN  KOLTZWARTHEN. 

"  Saratowka,  7th  April,  1789." 

"  I  certify,  that  this  is  the  free  and  voluntary  declaration  of 
Stephen  Koltzwarthen,  and  that  it  is  he  who  has  signed  it. 

"  G.  BRA.UN,  Pastor. 

Saratowka,  7th  of  April,  1789." 

"  I  certify  that  my  daughter  is  twelve  years  of  age. 

"  STEPHEN  KOLTZWARTHEN. 

Saratowka,  7th  April,  1789." 

"  I  certify,  that  Stephen  Koltzwarthen  has  signed  what  is 
above  written. 

"  G.  BRAUN,  Pastor." 

"  Declaration  of  the  Pastor  Lamp  of  St.  Petersburgh. 

"  I  certify,  that  the  name  of  Koltzwarthen  does  not  at  present 
appear  in  the  roll  of  those  in  the  communion  of  the  church,  and 


PAUL  JONES.  479 

that,  previous  to  the  day  when  she  came  to  my  house  about  the 
affair  of  her  daughter,  I  had  never  seen  her. 

"J.  LAMP,  Pastor." 

Count  de  Segur,  who  was  certainly  a  warm  and  disinterested 
friend  of  Jones,  has  given  a  narrative  of  this  affair,  overwrought 
in  most  particulars,  egotistical  in  many,  and  in  some  not  very  ma- 
terial points  incorrect,  as  appears  from  the  statements  of  Jones 
himself.  Those  who  have  perused  the  count's  reminiscences 
will  he  at  no  loss  to  account  for  the  colouring  given  to  this  par- 
ticular transaction,  as  it  is  the  same  thrown  over  many  others, 
by  that  worthy  and  self-complacent,  and  not  uninteresting  wri- 
ter. He  says: 

"  The  American  rear  admiral  was  favourably  welcomed  at 
court ;  often  invited  to  dinner  by  the  empress,  and  received  with 
distinction  into  the  best  society  in  the  city  ;  on  a  sudden,  Catha- 
rine commanded  him  to  appear  no  more  in  her  presence. 

"  He  was  informed  that  he  was  accused  of  an  infamous  crime ; 
of  assaulting  a  young  girl  of  fourteen,  of  grossly  violating  her  ; 
and  that  probably,  after  some  preliminary  information,  he  would 
be  tried  by  the  courts  of  admiralty,  in  which  there  were  many 
English  officers,  who  were  strongly  prejudiced  against  him. 

"  As  soon  as  this  order  was  known,  every  one  abandoned 
the  unhappy  American ;  no  one  spoke  to  him,  people  avoided 
saluting  him,  and  every  dbor  was  shut  against  him.  All  those 
by  whom  but  yesterday  he  had  been  eagerly  welcomed,  now 
fled  from  him  as  if  he  had  been  infected  with  a  plague ;  besides, 
no  advocate  would  take  charge  of  his  cause,  and  no  public  man 
would  consent  to  listen  to  him  ;  at  last  even  his  servants  would 
not  continue  in  his  service ;  and  Paul  Jones,  whose  exploits 
every  one  had  so  recently  been  ready  to  proclaim,  and  whose 
friendship  had  been  sought  after,  found  himself  alone  in  the 
midst  of  an  immense  population :  Petersburgh,  a  great  capital, 
became  to  him  a  desert. 

"  I  went  to  see  him  ;  he  was  moved  even  to  tears  by  my  visit. 
I  was  unwilling,'  he  said  to  me,  shaking  me  by  the  hand,  '  to 


480  PAUL   JONES. 

knock  at  your  door,  and  to  expose  myself  to  a  fresh  affront, 
which  would  have  been  more  cutting  than  all  the  rest.  I  have 
braved  death  a  thousand  times,  now  I  wish  for  it.'  His  appear- 
ance, his  arms  being  laid  upon  the  table,  made  me  suspect  some 
desperate  intention. 

"  '  Resume,'  I  said  to  him, '  your  composure  and  your  courage. 
Do  you  not  know  that  human  life,  like  the  sea,  has  its  storms, 
and  that  fortune  is  even  more  capricious  than  the  winds  ?  If,  as 
I  hope,  you  are  innocent,  brave  this  sudden  tempest ;  if,  unhap- 
pily, you  are  guilty,  confess  it  to  me  with  unreserved  frankness, 
and  I  will  do  every  thing  I  can  to  snatch  you,  by  a  sudden  flight, 
from  the  danger  which  threatens  you.' 

" '  I  swear  to  you  upon  my  honour,'  said  he,  '  that  I  am  in- 
nocent, and  a  victim  of  the  most  infamous  calumny.  This  is 
the  truth.  Some  days  since  a  young  girl  came  to  me  in  the 
morning,  to  ask  me  if  I  could  give  her  some  linen  or  lace  to 
mend.  She  then  indulged  in  some  rather  earnest  and  indecent 
allurements.  Astonished  at  so  much  boldness  in  one  of  such 
few  years,  I  felt  compassion  for  her  ;  I  advised  her  not  to  enter 
upon  so  vile  a  career,  gave  her  some  money,  and  dismissed  her ; 
but  she  was  determined  to  remain. 

" '  Impatient  at  this  resistance,  I  took  her  by  the  hand  and 
led  her  to  the  door ;  but,  at  the  instant  when  the  door  was 
opened,  the  little  profligate  tore  her  sleeves  and  her  neck-ker- 
chief, raised  great  cries,  com  plained 'that  I  had  assaulted  her, 
and  threw  herself  into  the  arms  of  an  old  woman,  whom  she 
called  her  mother,  and  who,  certainly,  was  not  brought  there 
by  chance.  The  mother  and  the  daughter  raised  the  house 
with  their  cries,  went  out,  and  denounced  me  ;  and  now  you 
know  all.' 

"  'Very  well,'  said  I,  'but  cannot  you  learn  the  names  of 
those  ad  venturers?'  'The  porter  knows  them,'  he  replied.  'Here 
are  their  names  written  down,  but  I  do  not  know  where  they  live. 
I  was  desirous  of  immediately  presenting  a  memorial  about 
this  ridiculous  affair,  first  to  the  minister,  and  then  to  the  em- 
press ;  but  I  have  been  interdicted  from  access  to  both  of  them.' 


PAUL   JONES.  481 

'Give  me  the  paper,' I  said;  'resume  your  accustomed  firm- 
ness; be  comforted  ;  let  me  undertake  it;  in  a  short  time  we 
shall  meet  again.' 

"As  soon  as  I  had  returned  home,  I  directed  some  sharp  and 
intelligent  agents,  who  were  devoted  to  me,  to  get  information 
respecting  these  suspected  females,  and  to  find  out  what  was 
their  mode  of  life.  I  was  not  long  in  learning  that  the  old  wo- 
man was  in  the  habit  of  carrying  on  a  vile  traffic  in  young  girls, 
whom  she  passed  off  as  her  daughters. 

"  When  I  was  furnished  with  all  the  documents  and  attesta- 
tions for  which  I  had  occasion,  I  hastened  to  show  them  to 
Paul  Jones.  '  You  have  nothing  more  to  fear,'  said  I ;  '  the 
wretches  are  unmasked.  It  is  only  necessary  to  open  the  eyes 
of  the  empress,  and  let  her  see  how  unworthily  she  has  been 
deceived ;  but  this  is  not  so  very  easy  :  truth  encounters  a  mul- 
titude of  people  at  the  doors  of  a  palace,  who  are  very  clever 
in  arresting  its  progress  ;  and  sealed  letters  are,  of  all  others, 
those  which  are  intercepted  with  the  greatest  art  and  care. 
Nevertheless,  I  know  that  the  empress,  who  is  not  ignorant  of 
this,  has  directed,  under  very  heavy  penalties,  that  no  one  shall 
detain  on  the  way  any  letters  which  are  addressed  to  her  per- 
sonally, and  which  may  be  sent  to  her  by  post ;  therefore,  here 
is  a  very  long  letter  which  I  have  written  to  her  in  your  name ; 
nothing  of  the  detail  is  omitted,  although  it  contains  some  rough 
expressions.  I  am  sorry  for  the  empress ;  but  since  she  heard 
and  gave  credit  to  a  calumny,  it  is  but  right  that  she  should  read 
the  justification  with  patience.  Copy  this  letter,  sign  it,  and  I 
will  take  charge  of  it ;  I  will  send  some  one  to  put  it  in  the 
post  at  the  nearest  town.  Take  courage ;  believe  me,  your 
triumph  is  not  doubtful.' 

"  In  fact,  the  letter  was  sent  and  put  in  the  post ;  the  em- 
press received  it ;  and,  after  having  read  this  memorial,  which 
was  fully  explanatory,  and  accompanied  by  undeniable  attesta- 
tions, she  inveighed  bitterly  against  the  informers,  revoked  her 
rigorous  orders,  recalled  Paul  Jones  to  court,  and  received  him 
with  her  usual  kindness. 

60 


482  PAUL   JONES. 

"  That  brave  seaman  enjoyed  with  a  becoming  pride  a  repa- 
ration which  was  due  to  him  ;  but  he  trusted  very  little  to  the 
compliments  that  were  unblushingly  heaped  upon  him  by  the 
many  persons  who  had  fled  from  him  in  his  disgrace ;  and, 
shortly  afterwards,  disgusted  with  a  country  where  the  fortune 
of  a  man  may  be  exposed  to  such  humiliations,  under  the  pre- 
tence of  ill  health,  he  asked  leave  of  the  empress  to  retire,  which 
she  granted  him,  as  well  as  an  honourable  order  and  a  suitable 
pension. 

"  He  took  leave,  after  having  expressed  to  me  his  gratitude 
for  the  service  which  I  had  rendered  him  ;  and  his  respect  for 
the  sovereign,  who,  although  she  might  be  led  into  an  error, 
knew  at  least  how  to  make  an  honourable  reparation  for  a  fault 
and  an  act  of  injustice." 

Whether  the  letter  which  Jones  really  did  address  to  the  em- 
press,was  framed  from  the  draft  presented  to  him  by  the  count, 
or  was  purely  original,  cannot  be  known.  It  certainly  was  not 
a  copy  of  that  draft,  and  bears  every  mark  of  being  his  own  com- 
position, in  matter  as  well  as  manner.  It  was  as  follows.  (The 
original  is  in  French.) 

"  St.  Petersburgh,  May  17,  1789. 

"  MADAM — I  have  never  served  but  for  honour,  I  have  never 
sought  but  glory,  and  I  believed  I  was  in  the  way  of  obtaining 
both,  when  I  accepted  the  offers  made  me  on  the  part  of  your 
majesty,  of  entering  into  your  service.  I  was  in  America  when 
M.  de  Simolin,  through  Mr.  Jefferson,  minister  of  the  United 
States  at  Paris,  caused  a  proposition  to  be  made*  to  me,  in  the 


*  "  Ma  fait  proposer,"  in  the  original.  The  phrase  admits  very  easily  of  the  in- 
ference, that  the  proposition  was  not  communicated  to  Jones,  until  he  arrived  at  Paris, 
in  relation  to  which  point,  some  observations  have  been  made  in  previous  pages.  On 
receiving  this  communication  from  Mr.  Jefferson,  and  subsequently  conferring  with 
Messrs.  Littlepage  and  Simolin,  he  would  have  proceeded  to  St.  Petersburgh  imme- 
diately to  be  informed  of  the  tenor  of  the  offer,  if  he  had  not  been  intrusted  with  the 
application  to  the  court  of  Denmark.  This  explanation  is  given,  because  needless 
criticisms  have  appeared  in  print,  accusing  him  of  a  sort  of  flirtation  with  proposals, 
which  he  had  made  up  his  mind  from  the  beginning  to  accept. 


PAUL   JONES.  483 

name  of  your  majesty,  to  take  command  in  chief  of  the  maritime 
forces  in  the  Black  Sea,  which  were  intended  to  act  against  the 
Turks.    I  sacrificed  my  dearest  interests  to  accept  an  invitation 
so  flattering,  and  I  would  have  reached  you  instantly  if  the 
United  States  had  not  intrusted  me  with  a  special  commission 
to  Denmark.  Of  this  I  acquitted  myself  faithfully  and  promptly. 
I  passed  into  Sweden,  with  a  view  of  reaching  Abo;  but  the 
entrance  of  that  port,  as  well  as  the  whole  coasi,  of  Finland,  was 
locked  up  by  the  ice.     Under  these  circumstances,  I  hearkened 
only  to  my  zeal,  threw  myself  into  a   small  and  frail  shallop, 
undecked,  with  some  inexperienced  peasants,  whom  my  en- 
treaties, menaces,  and   money,  associated  in  my  destiny,  in  a 
manner  unexampled ;  and  after  a  thousand  dangers  I  arrived  at 
Revel.  The  distinguished  reception  which  your  majesty  deigned 
to  grant  me,  the  kindness  with  which  you  loaded  me,  indemni- 
fied me  for  the  dangers  to  which  I  had  exposed  myself  for  your 
service,  and  inspired  me  with  the  most  ardent  desire  to  encoun- 
ter more.     But  knowing  mankind,  and  aware  that  the  fate  of 
those  persons  whom  their  superiors  distinguish  and  protect  is  to 
be  ever  the  objects  of  jealousy  and  envy  to  the  worthless,  I  be- 
sought your  majesty  never  to  condemn  me  unheard.     You  con- 
descended to  give  me  that  promise,  and  I  set  out  with  a  mind  as 
tranquil  as  my  heart  was  satisfied. 

"  In  the  ports  of  the  Black  Sea  I  found  things  in  the  most 
critical  condition.  The  most  imminent  danger  threatened  us, 
and  our  means  were  feeble.  Nevertheless,  supported  by  the 
love  which  all  your  subjects  bear  to  your  majesty,  by  their 
courage,  by  the  ability  and  foresight  of  the  chief  who  led  us,  and 
by  the  Providence  which  has  always  favoured  the  arms  of  your 
majesty,  we  beat  your  enemies,  and  your  flag  was  covered  with 
fresh  laurels. 

"  I  would  not  notice,  madam,  what  I  then  achieved,  if  Prince 
Potemkin  had  not  taken  distinguished  notice  of  my  services,  and 
given  me  reiterated  thanks,  both  in  speech  and  writing ;  and  if 
your  majesty,  informed  by  the  prince  marshal  of  my  conduct  in 
the  first  affair  which  took  place  on  the  Liman,  had  not  invested 


484  PAUL   JONES. 

me  with  the  honourable  badge  of  the  order  of  St.  Anne.  Since 
that  period,  though  I  have  been  circumscribed  by  the  limits  of 
my  instructions,  I  have  committed  no  professional  error  ;  I  have 
often  exposed  myself  to  personal  danger,  and  I  have  even 
stooped  to  sacrifice  my  personal  feelings  and  interests  to  my 
devotion  for  the  good  of  the  service. 

"  At  the  close  of  the  campaign  I  received  orders  to  return  to 
court,  as  your  majesty  intended  to  employ  me  in  the  North  Seas, 
and  I  brought  with  me  a  letter  from  Prince  Potemkin  for  your 
majesty,  in  which  he  mentioned  my  zeal  and  the  usefulness  of 
my  services.  I  had  the  honour  to  present  it,  and  M.  le  Comte 
de  Besborodko  acquainted  me  that  a  command  of  greater  im- 
portance than  that  of  the  Black  Sea,  and  fitted  for  the  display 
of  the  most  active  and  intelligent  talent,  was  intended  for  me. 
Such  was  my  situation,  when,  upon  the  mere  accusation  of  a 
crime,  the  very  idea  of  which  wounds  my  delicacy,  I  found  my- 
self driven  from  court,  deprived  of  the  good  opinion  of  your 
majesty,  and  forced  to  employ  the  time  which  I  wish  to  devote 
to  the  defence  of  your  empire  in  cleansing  from  myself  the  stains 
with  which  calumny  had  covered  me. 

"  Condescend  to  believe,  madam,  that  if  I  had  received  the 
slightest  hint  that  a  complaint  of  such  a  nature  had  been  made 
against  me,  and  still  more,  that  it  had  come  to  your  majesty's 
knowledge,  I  know  too  well  what  is  owing  to  delicacy  to  have 
ventured  to  appear  before  you  till  I  was  completely  exculpated. 

"Understanding  neither  the  laws,  the  language,  nor  the  forms 
of  justice  of  this  country,  I  needed  an  advocate,  and  obtained 
one  ;  but,  whether  from  terror  or  intimidation,  he  stopped  short 
all  at  once,  and  durst  not  undertake  my  defence,  though  con- 
vinced of  the  justice  of  my  cause.  But  truth  may  always  venture 
to  show  itself  alone  and  unsupported  at  the  foot  of  the  throne  of 
your  majesty.  I  have  not  hesitated  to  labour  unaided  for  my 
own  vindication  ;  I  have  collected  proofs  ;  and  if  such  details 
might  appear  under  the  eyes  of  your  majesty,  I  would  present 
them ;  but  if  your  majesty  will  deign  to  order  some  person  to 
examine  them,  it  will  be  seen  by  the  report  which  will  be  made, 


PAUL   JONES.  485 

that  my  crime  is  a  fiction,  invented  by  the  cupidity  of  a  wretched 
woman,  whose  avarice  has  been  countenanced,  perhaps  incited, 
by  the  malice  of  my  numerous  enemies.  Her  husband  has 
himself  certified  and  attested  to  her  infamous  conduct.  His 
signature  is  in  my  hands,  and  the  pastor,  Braun,  of  the  district, 
has  assured  me,  that  if  the  college  of  justice  will  give  him  an 
order  to  this  effect,  he  will  obtain  an  attestation  from  the  coun- 
try people  that  the  mother  of  the  girl  referred  to,  is  known 
among  them  as  a  wretch  absolutely  unworthy  of  belief. 

"  Take  a  soldier's  word,  madam  ;  believe  an  officer  whom 
two  great  nations  esteem,  and  who  has  been  honoured  with  flat- 
tering marks  of  their  approbation,  (of  which  your  majesty  will 
soon  receive  a  direct  proof  from  the  United  States,*)  I  am  in- 
nocent ;  and  if  I  were  guilty,  I  would  not  hesitate  to  make  a 
candid  avowal  of  my  fault,  and  to  commit  my  honour,  which  is 
a  thousand  times  dearer  to  me  than  my  life,  to  the  hands  of 
your  majesty. 

"  If  you  deign,  madam,  to  give  heed  to  this  declaration,  pro- 
ceeding from  a  heart  the  most  frank  and  loyal,  I  venture  from 
your  justice  to  expect  that  my  zeal  will  not  remain  longer 
in  shameful  and  humiliating  inaction.  It  has  been  useful  to 
your  majesty,  and  may  again  be  so,  especially  in  the  Mediter- 
ranean, where,  with  insignificant  means,  I  will  undertake  to 
execute  most  important  operations,  the  plans  for  which  I  have 
meditated  long  and  deeply.  But  if  circumstances,  of  which  I 
am  ignorant,  do  not  admit  the  possibility  of  my  being  employed 
during  the  campaign,  I  hope  your  majesty  will  give  me  permis- 
sion to  return  to  France  or  America,  granting,  as  the  sole 
reward  of  the  services  I  have  had  the  happiness  to  render,  the 
hope  of  renewing  them  at  some  future  day. 

"  Nothing  has  been  o/  will  be  able  to  change  or  efface  in  my 
heart  the  deep  feelings  of  devotedness  with  which  your  majesty 
has  inspired  me. 

"  To  you,  madam,  I  am  personally  devoted.     I  would  rather 

*  Referring  to  a  medal  ordered  to  be  struck  by  Congress. 


PAUL   JONES. 

have  my  head  struck  off  than  see  those  ties  broken  asunder 
which  bind  me  to  your  service.  At  the  feet  of  your  majesty  I 
swear  to  be  ever  faithful  to  you,  as  well  as  to  the  empire,  of 
which  you  form  the  happiness,  the  ornament,  and  the  glory. 
"  I  am,  with  the  most  profound  respect,  madam,"  &c. 

- 

Count  Segur  is  wrong  in  stating  that  Jones  received  either 
an  order  or  a  pension.  Neither  baubles  nor  money  were  doled 
out  to  him,  and  all  he  did  obtain  was  an  honourable  leave 
of  absence,  at  his  own  cost.  The  malign  influence  exerted 
against  him  triumphed,  from  whatever  source  it  may  have  pro- 
ceeded. Of  what  this  source  was,  Jones  afterwards  received 
dark  and  unsatisfactory  information,  which  will  be  mentioned 
presently.  The  order  of  St.  Anne,  the  only  one  which  he  re- 
ceived from  Russia,  had  been  previously  awarded  to  him,  and 
was  of  an  inferior  grade,  not  conferred  by  the  empress  herself, 
directly.  The  empress  may  have  expressed  herself  in  the  terms 
mentioned  by  Count  Segur ;  but  as  he  dramatized  his  recollec- 
tions from  memory,  the  chances  are  marvellously  against  her 
having  done  so ;  nor  does  he  state  that  he  was  present  when  she 
spoke  on  the  subject,  or  had  other  authority  than  an  "  on  dit" 
His  diplomatic  situation,  however,  gives  such  authority  to  his 
statements,  that  they  are  not  to  be  contradicted  without  evidence. 

The  ninety-third  Piece  Justificative  is  a  certificate  of  Dmit- 
reffsky,  who  had  served  as  secretary  and  interpreter  of  Jones, 
dated  June  21st,  in  which  he  states,  that  "  his  excellency  had 
received  neither  the  appointments  belonging  to  his  rank,  nor 
money  for  the  expenses  of  his  servants  and  necessary  disburse- 
ments in  his  official  capacity,  nor  any  allowance  for  his  table, 
during  the  campaign  ;  and  that  when  he  received  orders  to  re- 
pair to  court,  previous  to  being  employed  in  the  Black  Sea,  nc 
allowance  or  payment  was  made  to  him,  and  he  defrayed  the 
expense  from  his  own  purse."  The  date  of  this  certificate  shows, 
that  it  was  procured  with  a  view  of  making  some  settlement  at 
the  time,  with  the  Russian  government.  Jones  has  added  him- 
self, that  just  as  he  was  leaving  Copenhagen,  Baron  Krudiner 


PAUL  JONES.  487 

brought  to  him  a  thousand  ducats.  "  As,"  he  says,  "  I  had 
resolved  to  visit  St.  Petersburgh,  rather  to  prove  to  her  imperial 
majesty  the  gratitude  felt  for  the  good  opinion  entertained  for 
me,  than  with  an  actual  view  of  entering  into  her  service,  my 
delicacy  would  not  tolerate  the  idea  of  being  paid  for  my  tra- 
velling expenses.  I  refused  the  money  several  times ;  but  the 
baron  being  unwilling  to  take  it  back,  I  was  compelled  to  take 
charge  of  it,  being  resolved  to  deliver  it  to  the  empress'  minis- 
ter, in  case  of  declining  the  service  offered  to  me.  I  used  my 
own  money  on  the  journey.  Her  majesty  directed  two  thousand 
ducats  to  be  given  to  me,  for  my  equipment.  But,  as  I  had  to 
buy  every  thing  for  my  journey  to  the  department  of  the  Black 
Sea,  and  for  my  table,  as  commandant,  when  I  arrived  there,  I 
had  disbursed  the  whole  amount  of  that  sum  before  the  end  of 
the  campaign  ;  and  when  I  received  her  majesty's  orders  to 
return  to  St.  Petersburgh,  to  be  employed  in  the  North  Sea,  I 
was  obliged  to  dispose  of  the  effects  I  had  remaining  for  a  tri- 
fling sum.  I  may  boldly  say,  that  I  have  done  nothing  from 
interested  motives.  It  was  clearly  in  my  power  to  have  made 
as  advantageous  a  bargain  as  the  other  strangers,  whose  ser- 
vices Russia  has  invoked  ;  but  my  delicacy  did  not  allow  it ;  and 
I  had  too  much  confidence  in  the  magnanimity  and  goodness  of 
her  imperial  majesty  to  deem  it  necessary  ;  and  without  say- 
ing more  of  the  services  I  was  fortunate  enough  to  render  to 
her,  and  am  still  able  and  willing  to  render,  I  will  simply  add, 
that  I  would  not  re-attempt  my  passage  from  Gresselham  to 
Revel,  under  like  circumstances,  for  a  thousand  times  the  sum 
I  received  and  spent  in  her  service." 

He  was  received  at  court,  in  consequence  of  his  own  letter,  or 
on  the  representations  of  his  friends.  His  letters  to  Besborod- 
ko  will  show  how  far  he  obtained  favour.  Accustomed  to  the 
procrastinations  of  courts,  as  he  had  been,  his  was  not  the  tem- 
per that  could  endure  all  the  mortifications  described  by  Spen- 
cer ;  nor  was  the  court  of  Russia  one,  in  which  the  process  of 
tantalizing  courtiers  out  of  favour  was  so  dilatory  ;  vet  much 


488  PAUL  JONES. 

and  many  of  them,  the  sensitive  part  of  his  nature  made  him 
undergo : 

"  To  lose  good  days  that  might  be  better  spent, 

To  waste  long  nights  in  pensive  discontent ; 

To  speed  to-day,  to  be  put  back  to-morrow,  . 

To  feed  on  hope,  to  pine  with  fear  and  sorrow ; 

To  have  thy  prince's  grace,  yet  want  her  peers' ; 

To  fret  thy  soul  with  crosses  and  with  cares, 
To  eat  thy  heart  with  comfortless  despairs." 

"  To  his  Excellency  Count  Besborodko  from  Rear  Admiral 
Paul  Jones. 

"St.  Petersburgh,  24th  June,  1789.     (N.  S.) 

"  SIR — When  I  had  the  honour  to  see  your  excellency 
last  week,  you  was  pleased  to  promise,  that  in  two  days  I 
would  be  made  acquainted  with  the  ulterior  intention  of  her 
majesty,  whether  to  give  me  a  command,  or  a  temporary  leave 
of  absence.*  No  doubt  important  affairs  have  occasioned  this 
slight  delay.  You  will,  I  hope,  have  the  goodness  to  permit 
me  to  present  myself  at  your  hotel  to-morrow  afternoon ;  for  if 
it  is  thought  fit  to  employ  my  services,  there  is  no  time  to  lose, 
seeing  the  advance  of  the  season. 

"  The  detachment  of  vessels  of  which  your  excellency  spoke 
to  me,  would  c-ttainly  be  most  useful  in  the  operations  which  I 
have  projected ;  but,  at  the  same  time,  I  regard  the  plan  men- 
tioned in  the  private  »iote  which  I  have  sent  you,  as  very  use- 
ful. I  would  then  wish  (as  circumstances  may  allow  of  it,)f  to 
combine  these  plans  ;  and  then  I  think  there  would  be  reason 
to  be  satisfied  with  the  result. 

"  I  have  mentioned  to  your  excellency  that  I  am  the  only  of- 
ficer, who  made  the  campaign  of  the  Liman  without  being  pro- 


*  ffoUby  Jones.— Without  seeing  Count  Besborodko  at  all,  I  had  on  the  7th  July, 
(N.  S.)  an  audience  of  leave-taking  of  the  empress ;  and  on  kissing  jer  hand,  her  ma- 
jesty was  kind  enough  to  wish  me  un  ban  voyage. 

t  The  Count  Besborodko  told  me  so. 


PAUL   JONES.  489 

moted,*  but  I  beseech  you  to  believe,  that  I  have  not  accepted 
of  service  in  Russia  to  occasion  embarrassment ;  and  since  the 
empress  has  given  me  her  esteem  and  her  confidence,  I  wish 
for  nothing  save  new  opportunities  to  prove  my  devotion  by  fresh 
services." 

I  presume  the  date  of  the  following  letter  to  be  according 
to  the  new  style.  In  that  case,  but  a  decent  time  was  allowed 
to  grant  the  rear  admiral  leave  of  absence. 

"  St.  Petersburgh,  14th  July,  1789. 

"  SIR — I  presented  myself  at  your  hotel  the  day  before 
yesterday,  to  take  leave,  and,  at  the  same  time,  to  entreat  of  you 
to  expedite  my  commission,  my  passport,  and  the  leave  of  ab- 
sence which  her  majesty  has  thought  fit  to  grant  me.  Though 
I  have  perceived  on  several  former  occasions  that  you  have 
shunned  giving  me  any  opportunity  to  speak  with  you,  I  made 
myself  certain  that  this  could  not  occur  at  a  last  interview ;  and 
I  confess  I  was  very  much  surprised  to  see  you  go  out  by  ano- 
ther door,  and  depart  without  a  single  expression  of  ordinary 
civility  addressed  to  me  at  the  moment  of  my  departure,  to  con- 
sole me  for  all  the  bitter  mortifications  I  have  endured  in  this 
empire.  Before  coming  to  Russia,  I  had  been  connected  with 
several  governments,  and  no  minister  ever  either  refused  me 
an  audience,  or  failed  to  reply  to  my  letters. 

"  After  the  eagerness  with  which  my  services  were  sought, 
and  the  fair  promises  that  were  made  me,  I  had  good  reason  to 
believe  that  I  would  find  in  Russia  every  thing  pleasant  and 
agreeable.  I  was  confirmed  in  this  belief  from  the  essential 
services  which  I  had  the  good  fortune  to  render  the  empire.  I 
am  aware  that  your  excellency  is  sometimes  teased  by  im- 
portunate persons,  but  as  I  am  a  man  of  delicacy  in  every  thing, 
1  deserve  to  be  distinguished  from  the  crowd. 


*  Since  my  return  to  St.  Petersburg!!,  as  the  Prince  of  Anhalt  has  informed  me,  all 
the  frigates  of  the  department  of  the  Black  Sea  have  been  promoted  to  the  rank  of 
ships  of  the  line. 

61 


490  PAUL  JONES. 

"  On  the  6th  of  June,  the  last  time  you  gave  me  an  opportu- 
nity of  speaking  with  you,  I  gave  you  a  confidential  note,*  con- 
taining the  details  of  a  plan  by  which,  without  interfering  with 
any  other  project,  and  with  the  utmost  economy,  great  service 
might  be  done  to  Russia.  You  promised  to  submit  it  to  the 
empress  ;  and  you  yourself  proposed  to  place  a  detachment  of 
vessels  under  my  command,  to  serve  during  the  existing  cam- 
paign in  the  Black  Sea,  and  afterwards  in  the  Mediterranean. 
I  could  not  have  imagined  that  these  plans  were  so  carelessly  to 
have  been  thrown  aside;  and,  in  place  of  discussing  and  arrang- 
ing them  with  you,  I  was  very  .much  astonished  when  his 
Excellency  the  Count  de  Bruce  announced  to  me  that  the  em- 
press had  granted  me  a  leave  of  absence  for  two  years. 

"  On  the  1st  of  February  I  gave  in,  by  order  of  his  excellency 
the  Vice  Chancellor,  Count  Ostermann,  the  plan  of  a  treaty, 
political  and  commercial,  between  Russia  and  the,  United  States. 
As  the  Vice  Chancellor  spoke  to  me  of  going  to  America  about 
this  purpose,  and  as  I  shall  soon  again  be  connected  with  my  old 
friends  who  constitute  the  present  government  of  the  United 


*  This  note  is  translated  as  follows  in  the  Edinburgh  life : 

"  June  (5,  1789. 

"  The  great  object  of  a  Russian  fleet  in  the  Mediterranean  is  to  endeavour  to  cut 
off  the  communication  between  Egypt  and  the  coast  of  Syria  with  Constantinople, 
from  whence  they  procure  their  corn,  rice,  coffee,  &c.  This  operation  will  oblige 
them  to  withdraw  a  very  considerable  part  of  their  fleet  from  the  Black  Sea.  To  en- 
compass this  end,  I  ask  a  carte  Handle,  and  only,  exclusive  of  small  boats,  five  large 
vessels,  like  the  East  Indiamen  which  are  purchased  in  London  after  they  have  made 
three  voyages,  and  which  carry  from  forty  to  fifty  guns.  They  are  strong  vessels,  and 
good  sailers.  They  are  sent  from  London  to  Naples  under  the  English  flag,  under 
pretext  of  being  engaged  in  mercantile  enterprises.  No  person  can  have  any  thing  to 
say  against  it.  The  crew  of  those  vessels  being  arrived  in  Italy  would  engage  in  the 
•ervice  of  Russia.  For  the  rest  we  would  easily  find  good  sailors  at  Malta  and  at  Na- 
ples. I  would  employ  two  small  French  vessels  between  Malta  and  Naples,  trading 
to  Smyrna,  to  procure  continual  news  from  Constantinople,  and  of  the  force  and  posi- 
tion of  the  Turkish  fleet.  There  are  some  very  important  blows  to  be  made  ;  but  in 
order  to  succeed,  we  must  not  speak  of  this  matter  beforehand.  We  are  informed  that 
the  want  of  provisions  at  Constantinople  has  occasioned  a  rebellion,  discouraged  the 
people,  and  caused  a  great  desertion  of  the*  troops.  It  is  the  policy  of  the  vizier  to  ren- 
der himself  popular  by  providing  sufficiently  for  them." 


PAUL    JONES.  491 

States,  I  would  be  extremely  happy  to  learn,  through  your 
excellency,  the  intentions  of  her  imperial  majesty  in  this  re- 
spect, and  to  be  appointed  to  forward  the  alliance  which  I  sug- 
gested, by  which  Russia  must  gain. 

"  The  United  States  having  concluded  a  treaty  of  friendship 
and  commerce  with  the  Emperor  of  Morocco,  are  about  to  pro- 
pose to  the  different  powers  of  Europe  a  war  with  the  other 
Barbary  states,  and  to  form  a  confederation  against  these  pi- 
rates, till  they  shall  be  annihilated  as  maritime  powers.  It  is 
proposed,  that  even  the  event  of  a  war  between  the  contracting 
parties  shall  not  disturb  the  confederation.  It  would  be  worthy 
of  the  august  sovereign  of  this  empire  to  place  herself  at  the 
head  of  an  alliance  so  honourable,  and  of  which  the  conse- 
quences must  be  so  useful  to  Russia.  It  would  give  me  pecu- 
liar satisfaction  if  your  excellency  thought  fit  to  appoint  me  to 
make  known  the  intentions  of  the  empress  to  the  United  States 
on  these  two  points,  and  I  trust  I  should  be  able  to  acquit  my- 
self of  so  honourable  a  duty  to  your  contentment. 

"  I  have  the  honour  to  be,  with  sincere  attachment  and  high 
consideration,"  &c.  <&c. 

With  this  audience  of  leave,  and  this  gracious  compliment 
of  being  wished  "  a  good  journey"  by  the  empress,  Jones  bade 
farewell  to  the  Russian  court.  In  a  note  to  No.  91  of  his  Pieces 
JustificativeSy  which  is  a  letter  from  M.  de  Simolin  to  Count 
Besborodko,  dated  in  April,  1788,  he  makes  some  remarks 
which  require  notice.  This  letter  was  sent  to  him,  accompa- 
nied with  a  letter  in  the  empress'  own  hand.  He  says,  "  It  was 
not  until  after  I  had  entered  into  her  service  that  I  found  out  I 
should  not  be  the  only  admiral  in  the  department  of  the  Black 
Sea.  I  had  not  before  heard  of  the  rear  admirals  MordwinofF 
and  Woimoritsh.  I  had  been  invited  into  the  service  to  com- 
mand in  chief  the  fleet  on  the  Black  Sea,  which  I  believed  to 
be  very  respectable ;  but  I  began  to  entertain  reasonable  fears 
of  being  exposed  to  the  assaults  of  envy,  jealousy,  and  malice, 
when  I  was  told  that  I  should  not  be  even  senior  admiral  in  that 


PAUL   JONES. 

department.  Her  majesty  having  deigned  to  speak  to  me  fre- 
quently of  the  fortunate  lot  which  awaited  me,  more  with  the 
kindness  of  a  mother  than  as  a  powerful  sovereign,  was  pleased 
to  write  to  me  on  the  subject  of  M.  Simolin's  letter,  '  I  hope  it 
will  efface  all  doubts  from  your  mind.'  All  my  doubts  had  been 
previously  effaced  by  the  gracious  words  I  had  heard  from  her 
lips."  It  appears  from  this  extract,  that  though  he  had  reason 
to  anticipate  a  collision  with  Nassau,  in  the  joint  command,  he 
was  totally  uninformed  of  the  other  rivals  in  rank  with  whom 
he  was  to  come  in  contact.  Of  this  he  had  full  right  to  com- 
plain. On  the  28th  July,  I  find  drafts  of  two  letters,  in  his  own 
hand  writing,  one  of  which  was  addressed  to  the  Count  de  Sal- 
tikoff,  aid-de-camp  general  of  her  majesty,  stating  that  he  had 
been  delayed  until  that  day,  by  waiting  for  his  passport,  and 
requesting  to  know  when  he  might  have  the  honour  of  taking 
leave  of  their  royal  highnesses  the  grand  duke,  grand  duchess, 
and  all  the  little  princes,  <fcc.  The  other  was  addressed  to  the 
reverend  father  in  God,  Dr.  John  Sambosky.  from  which  the  fol- 
lowing is  an  extract :  "  I  take  the  liberty  to  enclose  the  letter 
which  his  imperial  highness  the  grand  duke  had  the  goodness 
to  write  me,  when  I  was  honoured  with  the  order  of  St.  Anne. 
As  the  day  of  the  month  is  omitted  in  that  letter,  you  will  oblige 
me  much  by  getting  it  inserted  ;  and  if  the  order  was  conferred 
on  any  other  officer  the  same  month,  I  couid  wish  that  my  letter 
might  be  made  the  first  in  date.  You  would  do  me  an  addi- 
tional favour,  if  you  could  procure  for  me  a  copy  of  the  institu- 
tion of  the  order  of  St.  Anne.  I  could  wish  to  have  it  in  French 
or  English,  but  this,  I  fear,  would  be  difficult  to  be  obtained." 
He  mentioned  to  the  prelate  that  he  had  written  to  Count  Sal- 
tikoff,  and  requested  that  he  would  give  directions  to  his  servant, 
who  did  not  know  the  count,  how  to  find  that  nobleman. 

His  passport,  for  himself  and  a  single  domestic  (John  Feyer- 
abend,  a  native  of  Dantzic,)  setting  forth  his  leave  of  absence 
for  two  years,  is  dated  on  the  same  28th  July,  (O.  S.  undoubt- 
edly.) On  the  15th  August  following,  (O.  S.)  being  still  at  St. 
Petersburgh,  he  wrote  to  M.  Genet,  then  secretary  of  the  lega- 


PAtJL   JONES.  493 

tion  from  the  court  of  France,  and  who  proved  himself  a  staunch 
friend  of  the  chevalier,  as  follows  : 

"  When  the  Count  de  Bruce  sent  for  me  on  the  27th  June,  (N. 
S.)  he  told  me,  on  the  part  of  the  empress,  that  her  imperial  ma- 
jesty had  granted  me  a  leave  for  two  years,  with  the  appointments 
belonging  to  my  military  rank  during  my  absence.  The  Count 
de  Besborodko  wrote  me  a  note  the  30th  July,  (N.  S.)  informing 
me  that  M.  Strekalow  had  received  her  majesty's  orders  with 
respect  to  my  appointments  and  arrearages.  I  have  not  been 
able  to  see  M.  de  Strekalow,  though  I  have  called  frequently  at 
the  cabinet.  I  have  only  received  my  appointments  from  the 
time  of  my  entry  into  the  service  to  the  1st  of  July,  at  the  rate 
of  1800  roubles  a  year:  and  I  was  told  yesterday  at  the  cabinet, 
that  her  majesty's  ukase  mentions  nothing  but  the  appointments 
then  due.  If  I  could  believe  that  this  was  her  majesty's  inten- 
tion, I  should  remain  silent ;  for  I  certainly  did  not  accept  the 
service  her  majesty  offered  me  on  account  of  my  appointments, 
or  the  usual  emoluments  of  my  graded  You  will  oblige  me, 
and  confer  on  me  a  new  favour,  by  the  inquiry  you  will  be  so 
kind  as  to  make  in  this  matter ;  and  you  will  be  pleased  to 
transmit  the  answer,  to  the  care  of  my  friend,  Mr.  Jefferson,  at 
Paris." 

Count  Segur  gave  further  proofs  of  his  friendship  to  a  man 
out  of  credit  at  court,  by  the  letters  with  which  he  furnished 
him,  and  by  addressing  the  following  communication  and  request 
to  Count  Montmorin. 

"  St.  Petersburg!],  21st  July,  1789. 

"  The  enemies  of  the  Vice  Admiral  Paul  Jones  having  caused 
to  be  circulated  reports  entirely  destitute  of  foundation,  con- 
cerning the  journey  which  this  general  officer  is  about  to  under- 
take, I  would  wish  the  enclosed  article,  the  authenticity  of  which 
I  guarantee,  should  be  inserted  in  the  Gazette  of  France,  and 
in  the  other  public  papers  which  are  submitted  to  the  inspection 
of  your  department.  This  article  will  undeceire  those  who 


PAUL   JONES. 

have  believed  the  calumny,  and  will  prove  to  the  friends  and  to 
the  compatriots  of  the  vice  admiral,  that  he  has  sustained  the 
reputation  acquired  by  his  bravery  and  bis  talents  during  the 
last  war ;  that  the  empress  desires  to  retain  him  in  her  service  ; 
and  that  if  he  absents  himself  at  this  moment,  it  is  with  his  own 
free  will,  and  for  particular  reasons,  which  cannot  leave  any 
stain  on  his  honour. 

"  The  glorious  marks  of  the  satisfaction  and  bounty  of  the 
king  towards  M.  Paul  Jones,  his  attachment  to  France,  which 
he  has  served  so  usefully  in  the  common  cause,  his  rights  as  a 
subject,  and  as  an  admiral  of  the  United  States,  the  protection 
of  the  ministers  of  the  king,  and  my  personal  friendship  for  this 
distinguished  officer,  with  whom  I  made  a  campaign  in  America, 
are  so  many  reasons  which  appear  to  me  to  justify  the  interest 
which  I  took  in  all  that  concerned  him  during  his  stay  in  Russia. 

"  THE  COUNT  DE  SEGUR." 

"  Article  to  be  inserted  in  the  Public  Prints,  and  particularly 
in  the  Gazette  of  France, 

"  St.  Petersburgh,  21st  July,  1789. 

"  The  Vice  Admiral  Paul  Jones,  being  on  the  point  of  return- 
ing to  France,  where  private  affairs  require  his  presence,  had 
the  honour  to  take  leave  of  the  empress,  the  7th  of  this  month, 
and  to  be  admitted  to  kiss  the  hand  of  her  imperial  majesty,* 
who  confided  to  him  the  command  of  her  vessels  of  war  sta- 
tioned on  the  Liman  during  the  campaign  of  1788.  As  a  mark 
of  favour  for  his  conduct  during  this  campaign,  the  empress  has 
decorated  him  with  the  insignia  of  the  order  of  St.  Anne  ;  and 
her  imperial  majesty,  satisfied  with  his  services,  only  grants 
him  permission  to  absent  himself  for  a  limited  time,  and  still 
preserves  for  him  his  emoluments  and  his  rank." 


*  "  This  general  officer,  so  celebrated  by  his  brilliant  actions  during  the  coarse  of 
the  American  war,  was  called,  in  1787,  to  the  service  of  her  imperial  majesty.  "—Note 
to  the  Newspaper  Paragraph. 


PAUL    JONES. 

The  letters  of  introduction  to  the  French  functionaries  at 
various  courts,  given  by  Count  de  Segur  to  Jones,  are  similar 
in  their  import,  and  the  limits  of  this  work  compel  their  exclu- 
sion. He  says  in  one  of  them,  speaking  of  Jones'  loss  of  court 
favour,  "  his  frankness,  probably  imprudent,  having  embroiled 
him  with  Potemkin,  his  enemies  availed  themselves  of  his  loss 
of  favour  to  ruin  him  ;  and  employed  for  that  purpose  the  most 
vile  artifices.  An  abandoned  woman,"  &c.  The  count  assumes 
to  himself  in  these  letters,  as  in  his  memoirs,  the  sole  merit  of 
having  preserved  the  admiral.  "  Every  person  has  abandoned 
him  ;  I  alone  have  upheld  and  defended  him.  The  country  to 
which  he  belongs,  the  order  of  military  merit  which  he  bears, 
and  which  he  has  so  nobly  acquired,  his  brilliant  reputation,  and 
above  all,  our  long  acquaintance,  have  made  it  a  law  to  me  • 
my  cares  have  not  been  in  vain;  I  have  caused  his  innocence  to 
be  acknowledged." 

M.  Genet  furnished  Jones  with  a  letter  to  his  sister,  the  cele- 
brated Madame  Campan.  It  was  as  follows  :  "  The  Rear  Ad- 
miral Paul  Jones,  who  will  deliver  you  this  letter,  my  dear 
friend,  commanded,  during  the  last  campaign,  the  Russian 
squadron  stationed  in  the  Liman.  On  that  occasion  the  em- 
press decorated  him  with  the  badge  of  the  order  of  St.  Anne. 
He  was  entitled  by  his  services  to  more  advantageous  promo- 
tion and  a  more  distinguished  reward ;  but  this  celebrated  sailor, 
knowing  better  how  to  conduct  himself  in  the  midst  of  battles 
than  in  courts,  has  given  offence  by  his  frankness  to  people  in 
pow«jr,  and  among  others  to  the  Prince  Potemkin.  His  ene- 
mies and  rivals  have  profited  by  his  temporary  disgrace,  to  has- 
ten his  ruin.  Calumny  has  aided  their  wishes.  They  have 
given  credit  to  a  rumour  absolutely  false.  They  have  accused 
him  of  having  abused  a  girl.  The  empress  excluded  him  from 
court  and  desired  to  bring  him  to  trial.  Every  one  abandoned 
him.  M.  de  Segur  has  defended  and  sustained  him.  The 
country  to  which  he  belongs,"  &c.  [M.  Genet's  letter  is  thus  far, 
and  in  the  sentence  which  follows,  nearly  a  copy  of  that  of  Count 
Segur,  above  quoted  from.] 


496  PAUL  JONES. 

"I  believe  also,  for  my  own  part,  that  I  have  been  of  some  ser- 
vice to  him.  Our  efforts  have  not  been  fruitless.  He  has 
re-appeared  at  court,  and  kissed  the  hand  of  the  sovereign,  but 
is  unwilling  to  remain  in  a  country  where  he  has  been  treated 
with  injustice.  However,  he  has  not  given  in  his  resignation. 
The  empress  still  preserves  for  him  his  rank  and  emoluments, 
and  only  grants  him  permission  to  absent  himself  for  a  limited 
time. 

"  I  thought  it  proper  to  make  you  acquainted  with  this  detail, 
in  order  that  you  might  understand  the  truth,  and  contradict 
any  false  reports  if  they  should  accidentally  extend  as  far  as 
Versailles.  It  is  impossible  for  me  to  tell  you  how  happy  I  have 
been,  in  having  it  in  my  power  to  render  services  to  a  man 
whom  my  father  loved  and  esteemed,  and  to  whom  I  was  per- 
sonally attached.  I  have  made  M.  Paul  Jones  promise  to  call 
upon  you,  to  deliver  this  letter  himself,  and  am  convinced  it  will 
give  you  much  pleasure.  I  say  nothing  of  many  matters  that 
occupy  my  attention,  or  of  many  reflections  which  existing  cir- 
cumstances call  forth.  M.  Paul  Jones  will  probably  be  two  or 
three  months  on  his  way  to  Paris,  and  all  I  might  mention  would 
have  become  stale  before  you  received  the  letter." 

It  appears  from  a  subsequent  letter  of  M.  Genet  to  Jones, 
informing  him  that  he  had  made  a  remittance  in  his  favour,  that 
he  took  charge  of  his  pecuniary  affairs  at  St.  Petersburgh. 

From  a  letter  subsequently  written  by  Jones  to  the  Chevalier 
Bourgoing,  French  minister  at.  Hamburgh,  it  appears  that  when 
he  left  St.  Petersburgh,  his  intention  was  to  have  revisited  Co- 
penhagen. "  I  meant,"  he  says,  "  on  my  way,  to  have  availed 
myself  of  the  occasion  of  seeing  the  late  grand  review  of  the 
Prussian  army.  My  friend,  the  Count  de  Segur,  favoured  me 
in  consequence,  with  letters  for  your  excellency  and  for  the 
Count  d'Esterns,  whereof  you  will  find  a  copy  in  the  enclosed 
packet  for  the  Baron  de  la  Houze,  which  I  leave  under  a  flying 
seal  for  your  perusal,  and  beg  you  to  forward  to  him.  On  my 
arrival  at  Warsaw,  my  friends  advised  me  not  to  appear  at  the 
courts  of  Berlin  or  Copenhagen,  under  the  present  political  cir- 


PAUL   JONES.  497 

cumstances.  As  it  was  known  that  I  had  left  Russia  dissatis- 
fied, I  thought  it  best  to  gire  my  enemies  there  no  handle 
against  me.  (They  had  insinuated  that  I  would  accept  a  com- 
mand in  the  Swedish  navy.*)  So  I  remained  in  Poland  two 
months,  and  was  treated  with  the  greatest  hospitality  and  polite- 
ness by  the  king  and  people  of  fashion.  From  the  present 
troubles  in  Brabant,  the  necessity  of  supporting  Sweden  through 
the  contest  she  has  been  led  to  engage  in,  and  other  circum- 
stances, I  need  not  observe  to  a  man  of  your  information  and 
judgment,  that  I  fear  there  will  be  no  peace  this  winter;  and 
that  the  Baltic  will  witness  warmer  work  than  it  has  yet  done." 
The  nature  of  his  reception  at  the  court  of  Warsaw,  is  suffi- 
ciently indicated  in  the  foregoing  epistle.  His  first  occupation 
on  arriving  in  that  capital,  appears  to  have  been  to  prepare  a 
journal  of  his  American  campaigns,  and  a  sketch  of  that  of  the 
Liman,  for  the  perusal  of  the  empress,  on  a  hint  she  had  drop- 
ped, probably  at  a  former  period.  His  letter  to  her  was  as 
follows  : 


*  This  was  certainly  a  base  calumny.  Jones  at  this  time  chose  to  consider  himself, 
whatever  the  empress'  intention  may  have  been,  as  absent  from  the  service  by  per- 
mission ;  and  would  not  have  accepted  a  commission  from  the  enemy  of  Russia.  The 
following  document  is  attached  to  some  of  the  loose  manuscripts.  It  has  no  date,  and 
is  in  French. 

"  NOTICE. 

"  The  Rear  Admiral  Paul  Jones,  desirous  of  making  known  unequivocally  his  man- 
ner of  thinking  in  relation  to  his  military  connexion  with  Russia,  declares : 

'"  1st.  That  he  has  at  all  times  expressed  to  her  imperial  majesty  of  Russia,  his  vow 
to  preserve  the  condition  of  an  American  citizen  and  officer. 

"  2d.  That  having  been  honoured  by  his  most  Christian  majesty  with  a  gold  sword, 
he  has  made  a  like  vow  never  to  draw  it  on  any  occasion  where  war  might  be  waged 
against  his  majesty's  interest. 

"  3d.  That  circumstances  which  the  rear  admiral  could  not  foresee  when  he  wrote  oij 
the  last  occasion,  (ecrivoit  en  dernier  lieu,)  make  him  feel  a  presentiment,  that  in  spite 
of  his  attachment  and  gratitude  to  her  imperial  majesty,  and  notwithstanding  the  ad- 
vantageous propositions  which  may  be  made  to  him,  he  will  probably  renounce  the 
service  of  that  power,  even  before  the  expiration  of  the  leave  of  absence  which  he 
now  enjoys.' ' 

It  does  not  appear  whether  this  declaration  was  ever  published. 

62 


498  PAUL   JONES. 

"  Warsaw,  25th  September,  (O.  S.)  1789. 

"  Your  imperial  majesty  having  done  me  the  honour  to  cause 
me  to  be  informed  by  her  secretary,  Monsieur  de  Chrapowitzky, 
'  that  she  would  be  pleased  to  have  a  copy  of  my  journal  (which 
she  had  read)  of  the  American  war,'  I  have  added  some  testi- 
monies of  the  high  and  unanimous  consideration  of  the  United 
States,  and  of  the  private  esteem  with  which  I  was  honoured  by 
several  great  men  to  whom  I  am  perfectly  known,  such  as  M. 
Malsherbes  and  the  Count  d'Estaing,  of  France,  and  Mr.  Mor- 
ris, minister  of  finance  and  of  the  American  marine.  I  have 
the  honour  to  present  it  to  your  majesty  with  profound  respect 
and  confidence. 

"  I  owe  it  to  my  reputation  and  to  truth,  to  accompany  this 
journal  with  an  abridgment  of  that  of  the  campaign  of  the  Li- 
man.  If  you  will  deign,  madam,  to  read  it  with  some  attention, 
you  will  perceive  how  little  I  have  deserved  the  mortifications 
which  I  have  endured,  and  which  the  justice  and  goodness  of 
your  majesty  can  alone  make  me  forget. 

"  As  I  never  offended  in  word,  or  speech,  or  thought,  against 
the  laws  or  usages  of  the  strictest  delicacy,  it  would  assuredly 
be  most  desirable  to  me  to  have  the  happiness  of  regaining,  in 
spite  of  the  malice  of  my  enemies,  the  precious  esteem  of  your 
majesty.  I  would  have  taken  leave  of  the  court  on  the  17th 
July,  with  a  heart  much  better  satisfied,  had  I  been  sent  to  fight 
the  enemies  of  the  empress,  instead  of  occupying  myself  with 
ray  own  private  affairs. 

"  Trusting  entirely  on  the  gracious  promise  that  your  majesty 
gave  me,  'never  to  condemn  me  without  a  hearing,'  and  being 
devoted  to  you,  heart  and  soul, 

"  I  am,  with  profound  respect,"  &c.  &c. 

This  postscript  is  added  to  the  above  letter :  "  I  shall  have 
the  honour  of  sending  the  journal  by  the  courier  of  Saturday 
next,  with  the  proofs  of  every  separate  article.  It  will  be  sealed 
with  my  arms,  and  addressed  to  your  majesty,  and  sent  under 
a  second  cover,  to  the  address  of  M.  de  Chrapowitzky." 


PAUL   JONES.  499 

While  at  Warsaw,  Jones  became  acquainted  with  General 
Kosciusko.  On  leaving  it  for  Vienna,  he  addressed  to  him  the 
following  note  : 

"  Wareaw,  November  2d,  1789. 

"  MY  DEAR  GENERAL — I  intend  to  set  out  this  day  for  Vi- 
enna, where  I  shall  only  stop  a  few  days.  I  shall  then  go  to 
Strasburgh,  and  from  thence  to  Holland,  where  I  expect  to 
arrive  before  the  1st  of  December.  My  address  in  Holland  is 
under  cover  to  Messieurs  Nic.  and  Jacob  Stophorst,  Amsterdam. 

"  As  I  shall  be  in  relation  with  our  friends  in  America,  I  shall 
not  fail  to  mention  on  all  occasions  the  honourable  employment 
and  the  respect  you  have  attained  in  your  own  country,  and  the 
great  regard  you  retain  for  the  natives  of  America,  where  your 
character  is  esteemed,  and  your  name  justly  beloved  for  your 
services. — I  am,"  &c. 

The  general's  first  letter  in  reply  is  not  found  among  Jones' 
papers.  The  following  is  inserted  literatim.  The  writer  was 
not  familiar  with  the  language  he  employed. 

"  Warsaw,  15th  February,  1790. 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR — I  had  the  honour  to  write  you  the  1st  or 
3d  of  Feb.  I  do  not  recolect ;  but  I  gave  you  the  information  to 
apply  to  the  minister  of  Svede  at  Hague,  or  at  Amsterdam,  for 
the  propositions  (according  to  what  M.  D'Engestrom  told  me) 
they  boths  had  order  to  communicate  you.  I  wish  with  all  my 
heart  that  could  answer  your  expectation.  I  am  totaly  ignorant 
what  they  are ;  but  I  could  see  you  to  fight  against  the  oppre- 
sion  and  tyranny.  Give  me  news  of  every  thing. 
"  I  am,  dear  Sir, 

"  Your  most  humble,  and  most 
"  obedient  servent, 

"  T.  KOSCIUSKO,  G.  M." 

"  Write  me,  if  you  please,  who  is  minister  from  America  at 
Paris  :  I  want  to  know  his  name." 


500  PAUL   JONES. 

In  answer  to  this  letter,  Jones  wrote  from  Amsterdam  in  the 
following  month  : 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR — The  letter  you  did  me  the  honour  to  write 
me  the  2d  February,  was  delivered  to  my  bankers  here,  by  a 
man  who  demanded  from  them  a  receipt.  I  was  then  at  the 
Hague,  and  your  letter  was  transmitted  to  me.  On  my  return 
here,  some  days  ago,  I  found  another  letter  from  you  of  the 
15th  February.  This  letter  had,  by  the  same  man,  been  put 
into  the  hands  of  my  bankers.  You  propose,  if  I  am  not  mis- 
taken, that  I  should  apply  to  a  gentleman  at  the  Hague,  who 
has  something  to  communicate  to  me.  But  a  moment's  reflec- 
tion will  convince  you,  that  considerations  of  what  I  owe  to  my- 
self, as  well  as  the  delicacy  of  my  situation,  do  not  permit  me 
to  take  such  a  step.  If  that  gentleman  has  any  thing  to  com- 
municate to  me,  he  can  either  do  it  by  writing,  by  desiring  a 
personal  conference,  or  by  the  mediation  of  a  third  person.  I 
have  shown  your  letter  to  my  bankers,  and  they  have  said  this 
much  to  the  gentleman  from  whom  they  received  it ;  but  this 
message,  they  say,  he  received  with  an  air  of  indifference." 

The  enigma  of  this  correspondence  cannot  be  solved.  It  has 
been  conjectured  that  Kosciusko  wished  to  engage  the  services 
of  the  rear  admiral  in  some  project  with  which  his  own  mind 
was  occupied.  Of  whatever  character  they  were,  they  must 
have  been  hostile  to  Russia. 

The  following  note  to  Mr.  Littlepage,  equally  requires  the 
interpretation  of  GEdipus.  It  is  dated  Warsaw,  November  2d : 
"  I  set  out  this  day  for  Vienna,  where  I  shall  stop  only  a  day  or 
two.  From  thence  I  go  to  Strasburgh,  and  shall  pay  a  visit  to 
the  Duke  de  Wirtemburgh,  at  Mont  Beliard.  I  am  uncertain 
about  going  to  Paris,  under  the  present  turbulent  appearances. 
1  have  not  received  any  answer  from  the  quarter  you  mention, 
but  the  C.  dc  S — ,  who  arrived  here  fourteen  days  after  I  had 
written,  told  me  that  a  certain  memorial  had  been  stopped  by 
the  C.  de  B — ,  who  had  written  to  the  Prince  de  P —  to  know 


PAUL   JONES.  501 

if  he  would  permit  it  to  be  delivered  to  the  lady  to  whom  it  was 
addressed.*  I  wish  to  disbelieve  this,  for  it  could  not  have 
happened  so,  in  so  short  a  time  ;  but  should  it  prove  true,  I  could 
wish  for  your  idea  in  consequence." 

The  draft  of  the  following  letter  from  Vienna  is  among  his 
loose  papers.  The  beginning  and  conclusion  are  in  French, 
the  "  quelque  mots  pour  Mdlle.  la  comptesse"  are  in  English. 

"  A  Madame  et  Mdlle.  La  Comptesse  de  Tomatis  de  Valery  a 

Varsovie. 

"  Vienna,  23d  November,  1789. 

"  MADAM — I  have  executed  your  commission  to  the  best  of 
my  ability.  On  arriving  here,  I  delivered  to  Mademoiselle 
Caroline  all  the  articles  which  you  intrusted  to  me,  except  the 
fan  which  I  had  forgotten  at  home,  (not  having  put  it  in  my 
pocket  at  the  barrier  with  the  other  articles-,  for  fear  of  break- 
ing it,)  and  which  I  delivered  next  day  to  the  femme-de-chambre. 
I  went  to  pay  a  visit  at  the  convent  to-day,  but  was  unable  to 
have  the  pleasure  of  seeing  Mdlle.  Caroline,  who  is  slightly  in- 
disposed. I  saw  your  two  other  daughters,  who  are  very  pretty, 
and  very  interesting.  They  had  given  me  hopes  of  having  an 
audience  of  the  emperor ;  but  I  no  longer  expect  it,  as  he  sees 
no  one,  and  conversation  is  painful  to  him.  I  left  the  works 
of  Thompson  at  the  convent,  and  here  are  some  remarks  for 
Mdlle.  the  Countess,  who  will  have  the  goodness  to  accept 
these  books  as  if  I  had  had  the  honour  of  presenting  them  to 
her  on  her  birth  day." 

"  I  have  spoken  to  you  several  times  of  the  beautiful  poems 
called  the  Seasons,  written  by  the  delicate  author,  whose  works 
I  have  deposited  with  your  sister  for  your  acceptance.  There 
is  nothing  in  the  English  language  that  surpasses  his  thoughts, 
and  his  happy  elegance  of  expression.  In  the  first  and  second 
volumes  you  will  meet  with  some  small  parts  where  the  margin 


*  Besborodko,  Potemkin,  and  the  empress,  are  plainly  referred  to,  and  perhaps  tl.e 
memorial  spoken  of  is  that  which  has  been  inserted  previously. 


PAUL   JONES. 

is  marked,  or  the  words  underlined ;  though,  without  that  cir- 
cumstance, the  contents  could  not  have  escaped  your  particular 
observation.  Adieu !  I  pay  you  no  compliment.  But  I  wish 
you  all  possible  good.  One  word  more,  and  be  not  offended. 
The  manuscript  I  put  into  your  hands,  (and  which,  as  I  have 
since  found,  abounded  with  faults  and  inaccuracies,)  was  never 
before  confided  to  any  other  person  long  enough  to  have  been 
copied  either  partially  or  wholly.  I  did  not  request  of  you  to 
let  no  extracts  be  taken  from  it.  If  any  have  been  taken,  you 
will  be  so  good  as  to  inform  me  how  many  ?  and  the  extent  of 
each  ?" 

"  I  am  about"  (he  resumes  in  French)  "  setting  out  on  my 
way  to  Holland.  I  shall  ever  carry  with  me  the  remembrance 
of  your  kindness.  My  address  is  under  envelope  to  Messrs.  Ni- 
cholas and  Jacob  Van  Stophorst,  at  Amsterdam.  Should  you 
learn  any  thing  which  it  concerns  me  to  know,  you  will  have  the 
goodness  to  inform  me  of  it.  Present  my  respects  to  M.  the 
Count,  &c." 

In  the  existing  uncertainty  as  to  his  future  destiny,  in  which 
he  was  now  placed,  the  mind  of  Jones  must  have  been  much 
disturbed,  panting  as  it  ever  was  for  action.  At  Amsterdam  he 
was  busily  employed  in  corresponding  with  several  eminent 
men,  and  with  his  own  immediate  friends.  The  letters  which 
follow  are  those  which  possess  most  interest. 

"  To  General  Washington,  President  of  the  United  States. 

"  Amsterdam,  December  20,  1789. 

"  SIR — I  avail  myself  of  the  departure  of  the  Philadelphia 
packet,  Captain  Earle,  to  transmit  to  your  excellency  a  letter 
I  received  for  you  on  leaving  Russia  in  August  last,  from  my 
friend,  the  Count  de  Segur,  minister  of  France  at  St.  Peters- 
burgh.  That  gentleman  and  myself  have  frequently  conversed 
on  subjects  that  regard  America ;  and  the  most  pleasing  reflec- 
tion of  all  has  been,  the  happy  establishment  of  the  new  consti- 
tution, and  that  you  are  so  deservedly  placed  at  the  head  of  the 


PAUL   JONES.  503 

government  by  the  unanimous  voice  of  America.  Your  name 
alone,  Sir,  has  established  in  Europe  a  confidence  that  was  for 
some  time  before  entirely  wanting  in  American  concerns ;  and 
I  am  assured,  that  the  happy  effects  of  your  administration  are 
still  more  sensibly  felt  throughout  the  United  States.  This  is 
more  glorious  for  you  than  all  the  laurels  that  your  sword  so 
nobly  won  in  support  of  the  rights  of  human  nature.  In  war 
your  fame  is  immortal  as  the  hero  of  liberty  !  In  peace  you  are 
her  patron,  and  the  firmest  supporter  of  her  rights !  Your 
greatest  admirers,  and  even  your  best  friends,  have  now  but 
one  wish  left  for  you, — that  you  may  long  enjoy  health  and 
your  present  happiness. 

"  Mr.  Jefferson  can  inform  you  respecting  my  mission  to  the 
court  of  Denmark.  I  was  received  and  treated  there  with 
marked  politeness;  and  if  the  fine  icords  I  received  are  true,  the 
business  will  soon  be  settled.  I  own,  however,  that  I  should 
have  stronger  hopes  if  America  had  created  a  respectable  ma- 
rine; for  that  argument  would  give  weight  to  every  transaction 
with  Europe.  I  acquitted  myself  of  the  commission  with  which 
you  honoured  me  when  last  in  America,  by  delivering  your  let- 
ters with  my  own  hands  at  Paris  to  the  persons  to  whom  they 
were  addressed." 

On  the  same  date  he  wrote  to  the  Hon.  Charles  Thompson, 
secretary  of  congress.  The  letter  concludes  as  follows : 

"  You  mentioned  to  me  at  New  York,  a  small.but  convenient 
estate  to  be  sold  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Lancaster.  I  think 
you  said  it  had  belonged  to  Mr.  George  Ross.  May  I  ask  the 
favour  of  you  to  inquire  about  it,  and  favour  me  with  your  opin- 
ion about  the  purchase  of  it  ?  I  shall  probably  come  to  America 
in  the  summer,  if  the  empress  does  not  invite  me  to  return  to 
Russia  before  the  opening  of  the  next  campaign  ;  a  thing  I  do 
'not  expect." 

Among  others  of  his  American  friends,  he  wrote  to  Mr.  John 
Ross,  of  Philadelphia,  who  had  a  power  of  attorney  to  re- 
ceive the  dividends  on  his  bank  stock,  in  relation  principally 


504  PAUL  JONES. 

to  the  unhandsome  conduct  of  the  bankers  who  had  given  him 
a  letter  of  credit  on  Amsterdam,  in  consequence  of  one  drawn 
on  them  by  Mr.  Ross,  when  Jones  was  out  on  his  mission  to 
Denmark.  They  directed  their  correspondent  not  to  pay  it 
until  further  advices  from  Mr.  Ross  ;  and  as  Jones'  friend,  Dr. 
Bancroft,  also  disappointed  him  in  not  placing  funds  to  his  cre- 
dit at  Amsterdam,  as  he  had  promised,  the  former  might  have 
been  considerably  embarrassed,  had  he  not  experienced  assis- 
tance from  a  quarter  on  which,  he  says,  he  had  no  claim.  These 
details  are  uninteresting ;  but  as  allusions  are  made  in  some  of 
Jones'  letters  to  his  pecuniary  transactions  with  Dr.  Bancroft,  and 
the  conduct  of  the  latter  has  been  misrepresented  in  the  Edin- 
burgh Life  of  Jones,  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  state  what  they 
were.  Jones  advanced  money  to  Bancroft,  who  was  engaged 
in  introducing  the  Quercitron  bark  among  the  woollen  dyers. 
The  latter  was  unable  to  meet  his  engagement  at  the  time  re- 
ferred to;  but  when  Jones  visited  England  in  the  spring  of  1790, 
for  the  purpose  of  making  a  settlement,  as  the  term  of  their 
contract  had  expired,  he  received  half  of  the  amount-  due  to 
him.  The  other  half  was  afterwards  paid  to  Sir  Robert  Har- 
ries, of  London,  in  whose  hands  it  was  at  the  time  of  Jones' 
death. 

In  the  conclusion  of  his  letter  to  Mr.  Ross,  Jones  says :  "  I 
should  be  glad  to  know  the  state  of  the  bank,  &c.  though  I  at 
present  want  no  remittance.  I  may  perhaps  return  to  America 
in  the  latter  end  of  the  summer  ;  and  in  that  case  I  shall  wish 
to  purchase  a  little  farm,  where  I  may  live  in  peace.  I  am 
always  affectionately  yours. 

"  N.  B.  I  presume  you  have  received  my  bust,  as  Mr.  Jef- 
ferson has  forwarded  it  for  you." 

He  wrote  to  Franklin,  as  follows : 

"  Amsterdam,  December  27,  1789. 

"  DEAR  SIR — The  enclosed  documents  from  my  friend,  the 
Count  de  Segur,  minister  plenipotentiary  of  France  at  St.  Pe- 
tersburgh,  will  explain  to  you  in  some  degree  my  reasons  for 


PAUL   JONES.  505 

leaving  Russia,  and  the  danger  to  which  I  was  exposed  by  the 
dark  intrigues  and  mean  subterfuges  of  Asiatic  jealousy  and 
malice.  Your  former  friendship  for  me,  which  I  remember 
with  particular  satisfaction,  and  have  ever  been  ambitious  to 
merit,  will,  I  am  sure,  be  exerted  in  the  kind  use  you  will  make 
of  the  three  pieces  I  now  send  you,  for  my  justification  in  the 
eyes  of  my  friends  in  America,  whose  good  opinion  is  dearer  to 
me  than  any  thing  else.  I  wrote  to  the  empress  from  Warsaw 
in  the  beginning  of  October,  with  a  copy  of  my  journal,  which 
will  show  her  majesty  how  much  she  has  been  deceived  by  the 
account  she  had  of  our  maritime  operations  last  campaign.  I 
can  easily  prove  to  the  world  that  I  have  been  treated  unjustly, 
but  I  intend  to  remain  silent  at  least  till  I  know  the  fate  of  my 
journal. 

"  I  shall  remain  in  Europe  till  after  the  opening  of  the  next 
campaign,  and  perhaps  longer,  before  I  return  to  America. 
From  the  troubles  in  Brabant,  and  the  measures  now  pursuing 
by  the  king  of  Prussia,  &c.  I  presume  that  peace  is  yet  a  dis- 
tant object,  and  that  the  Baltic  will  witness  warmer  work  than 
it  has  yet  done.  On  the  death  of  Admiral  Greig,  I  was  last 
year  called  from  the  Black  Sea  by  the  empress  to  command  a 
squadron  in  the  Baltic,  &c.  This  set  the  invention  of  all  my 
enemies  and  rivals  at  work,  and  the  event  has  proved  that  the 
empress  cannot  always  do  as  she  pleases. 

"  N.  B.  It  is  this  day  ten  years  since  I  left  the  Texel  in  the 
Alliance." 

The  following  letter  to  John  Parish,  Esq.  merchant,  of  Ham 
burgh,  is  dated  December  29.  "  My  departure  from  Copen- 
hagen was  so  sudden,  that  I  omitted  writing  to  you,  intending 
to  have  done  it  from  St.  Petersburgh.  There  I  found  myself 
in  such  a  round  of  feasting  and  business  till  the  moment  of  my 
departure  for  the  Black  Sea,  that  I  again  postponed  it.  "  Had 
I  wrote  you  after  my  arrival  at  Cherson,  I  have  every  rea- 
son to  think  my  letters  would  have  been  intercepted  ;  but, 
notwithstanding  my  past  silence,  I  can  truly  assure  you,  that  T 

63 


506  PAUL   JONES. 

have  constantly  entertained  the  most  perfect  and  grateful  sense 
of  your  friendly  and  polite  behaviour  to  meat  Hamburgh  and 
Copenhagen.  I  will  now  thankfully  pay  to  your  order  the  cost 
of  the  smoked  beef  you  were  so  obliging  as  to  send  to  my  friend, 
Mr.  Jefferson,  at  my  request.  The  kind  interest  you  have  taken 
in  my  concerns,  and  the  great  desire  to  cultivate  your  esteem 
and  friendship,  are  my  present  inducements  for  troubling  you 
witli  the  enclosed  packet  for  the  Chevalier  Bourgoing,*  (the 
French  resident  at  Hamburgh,)  which  I  leave  under  a  flying 
seal  for  your  perusal,  praying  you  to  shut  the  exterior  cover 
before  you  deliver  it.  I  shall  make  no  comments  on  the  docu- 
ments I  send  for  the  Baron  de  la  Houze,  but  let  the  simple  truth 
speak  for  herself.  I  shall  show  you,  when  we  meet,  things  that 
will  surprise  you,  for  you  can  scarcely  have  an  idea  how  much 
our  operations  have  been  misrepresented. 

"  As  I  am  for  the  present  the  master  of  my  time,  I  shall  per- 
haps make  you  a  visit  in  the  spring,  and  pay  my  court  to  some 
of  your  kind,  rich,  old  ladies.  To  be  serious,  I  must  stay  in 
Europe  till  it  is  seen  what  changes  the  present  politics  will  pro- 
duce, and  till  I  can  hear  from  America;  and  if  you  think  I  can 
pass  my  time  quietly,  agreeably,  and  at  a  small  expense  at 
Hamburgh,  I  should  prefer  it  to  the  fluctuating  prospects  of 
other  places." 

In  the  letter  referred  to  in  the  foregoing,  inclosing  copies  of 
the  letters  of  Count  Segur  for  the  perusal  of  the  Baron  de  la 
Houze,  who  had  shown  Jones  many  attentions  at  Copenhagen, 
he  complains  that  his  correspondence  had  miscarried  or  been 
intercepted.  Of  many  letters  which  he  had  written  to  Mr.  Jef- 
ferson, but  one  had  been  received,  by  a  private  hand.  Mr.  Jef- 
ferson had  returned  to  America,  and  been  appointed  secretary 
of  state.  He  had  obtained  no  definitive  answer  in  relation  to 
the  claim  on  Denmark.  "  As  a  Russian  officer,"  says  Jones, 
"I  do  not  pretend  to  interfere  in  this  matter;  but  as  the  sub- 


*  This  letter  has  been  previously  inserted. 


PA¥L   JOKB&  50? 

jects  of  France  have  an  interest  in  it,  you  will  undoubtedly  find 
it  expedient  to  confer  further  with  the  Count  de  Bernstorf  on  the 
subject.  The  only  substantial  difficulty  which  he  suggested  to 
me  in  conversation,  was,  that  the  new  constitution  of  the  United 
States  was  not  yet  in  force.  But  this  objection  no  longer  exists." 

In  a  postscript  to  this  letter  to  the  baron,  he  says,  "  I  have 
many  things  to  tell  you  about  the  moustaches  of  the  capitan  pacha. 
who  is  a  very  brave  man.  The  public  has  been  misinformed 
as  to  our  dealings  with  him.  I  expect  to  go  to  France,  but  shall 
probably  visit  you  in  the  spring." 

The  baron  in  his  reply  from  Copenhagen,  on  the  9th  of  Feb- 
ruary following,  said : 

"  It  is  but  a  few  days  since  I  received,  with  the  letter  with 
which  you  have  honoured  me  of  the  29th  December,  the  copies 
of  that  of  the  Count  de  Segur,  which  you  have  been  pleased  to 
communicate  to  me,  and  which  were  accompanied  by  the  article 
inserted  on  your  account  in  the  Gazette  of  France,  and  which 
I  had  read.  This  article,  which  has  been  repeated  in  many 
foreign  gazettes,  has  entirely  destroyed  all  the  venomous  effects 
which  calumny  had  employed  to  tarnish  the  distinguished  repu- 
tation which  you  have  acquired  by  your  talents  and  valour. 
In  consequence,  public  opinion  still  continues  to  render  you  jus- 
tice, and  the  most  noble  revenge  you  can  take  on  your  enemies 
is  to  gather  fresh  laurels.  The  celebrated  Athenian  general, 
Themistocles,  has  said  :  '  I  do  not  envy  the  situation  of  the  man 
who  is  not  envied.' ' 

He  also  informed  Jones  that  the  situation  of  the  claim  was 
as  he  had  left  it ;  he  not  having  been  clothed  with  plenipotentiary 
powers,  and  the  Danish  minister  taking  the  ground  that  Paris 
ought  to  have  been  the  seat  of  the  negotiation. 

To  Baron  Krudiner,  who  was  still  the  Russian  envoy  at  Co- 
penhagen, Jones  wrote  on  the  same  occasion,  referring  to  the 
letters  he  had  enclosed  for  Baron  de  la  Houze.  He  said  :  "  Not- 
withstanding the  unjust  treatment  I  received  in  Russia,  the 
warm  attachment  with  which  the  empress  inspired  me  at  the 
beginning,  still  remains  rooted  in  my  heart.  You  know,  Sir, 


508  PAUL    JONES. 

that  her  imperial  majesty  thought  my  sword  an  object  worthy 
of  her  attention,  sought  it  with  the  most  flattering  eagerness, 
and  treated  me  the  first  time  I  was  at  her  court  with  unexam- 
pled distinction.  That  sword  has  been  successfully  and  fre- 
quently drawn  on  critical  occasions,  to  render  the  most  essential 
services  to  her  empire,  and  to  cover  her  flag  with  fresh  laurels. 
For  this  I  have  greatly  exposed  my  reputation,  and  entirely 
sacrificed  my  military  pride.  Yet  I  have  seen  the  credit  of  my 
services  bestowed  on  others,  and  I  am  the  only  officer  who 
made  the  campaign  of  the  Liman  without  being  advanced.  In 
a  letter  I  wrote  the  empress,  the  17th  day  of  May  last,  I  men- 
tioned that  her  majesty  would  soon  receive  a  direct  proof  from 
America  of  the  unanimous  approbation  with  which  I  am  ho- 
noured by  the  United  States.  I  alluded  to  the  gold  medal  which 
I  am  to  receive,  and  respecting  which  you  have  in  your  hands 
a  copy  of  the  unanimous  act  of  Congress.  That  medal  is  now 
elegantly  executed,  and  is  ready  for  me  at  Paris.  The  United 
States  have  ordered  a  copy  of  my  medal  to  be  presented  to  every 
sovereign  in  Europe,  Great  Britain  excepted.  When  we  meet, 
I  shall  produce  clear  proof  of  all  I  have  said  respecting  Russia. 
The  only  promise  I  asked  from  the  empress  at  the  beginning, 
and,  indeed,  the  only  condition  I  made  with  her  majesty,  was, 
that  "  she  should  not  condemn  me  without  having  heard  me."  I 

• 

need  make  no  remark  to  a  man  of  your  clear  understanding. 
You  advised  me  to  write  to  the  empress  by  the  post.  I  wrote 
several  letters  while  in  the  department  of  the  Black  Sea  to  my 
friend  Mr.  Jefferson,  at  Paris,  containing  no  detail  of  our  opera- 
tions, yet  they  were  all  intercepted.  I  have,  I  think,  reason  to 
apprehend  that  there  will  be  no  peace  this  winter,  and  that  the 
Baltic  will  witness  warmer  work  than  it  has  yet  done. 

"  You  remember  that  Count  B (Bernstorf)  showed  you 

a  paper  which  he  sent,  to  be  delivered  to  me  by  the  Danish 
minister  at  St.  Petersburgh.  I  received  that  paper  without 
any  alteration  whatever,  either  in  the  '  date,1  or  otherwise.  If 
I  understand  you  right,  it  was  intended  that  '  a  year's  payment 
made  in  advance?  but  I  have  not  since  heard  a  word  in 


PAUL   JONES.  509 

that  respect.  I  wish  to  be  informed  how  the  payment  is  in- 
tended to  be  made.  It  cannot  surely  be  in  Danish  bank-paper. 
You  will  do  me  a  great  favour  if  you  can  obtain  an  explicit  an- 
swer, and  it  would  be  much  more  agreeable  if  the  payment 
could  be  made  here,  instead  of  being  made  at  any  other  place. 
I  have  not  yet  mentioned  this  affair  to  any  person  whatever, 
except  yourself.  You  are  no  stranger  to  my  sentiments.  You 
know  the  present  happy  state  of  America.  That  nation  will 
soon  create  a  respectable  marine.  It  is  now  a  year  since  I  gave 
a  plan  to  the  court  of  St.  Petersburgh,  for  forming  a  political 
and  commercial  connexion  with  the  United  States.  The  em- 
press approved  this  much,  and  there  was  question  of  sending 
me  to  America  in  consequence.  But  a  great  man  told  me, 
'  que  cela  enrageroit  les  Anglais  d'avantage  centre  la  Russie, 
et  qu'il  full  oil  auparavant  faire  la  paix  avec  les  Turcs.'  Accept 
my  warm  congratulations  on  the  well-merited  advancement 
you  have  received  in  the  order  of  St.  Wolodimer.  I  hear  that 
your  lady  is  at  Paris.  I  beg  you  to  assure  her  of  my  great 
respect,"  «fcc.  &c. 

The  pension  would  no  doubt  have  been  convenient  at  this 
time,  as  he  had  been  merely  paid  by  the  Russian  government, 
as  has  been  mentioned,  at  the  rate  of  1800  roubles  per  annum, 
and  his  great  expenses  had  more  than  exhausted  the  advances 
made  by  that  government;  while  he  found  it  difficult  to  realize 
money  from  his  private  resources.  Baron  Krudiner's  reply, 
on  the  6th  February  following,  is  brief,  and  may,  therefore,  be 
as  well  inserted.  "  It  is  with  lively  sensibility  that  I  have  re- 
ceived the  mark  of  remembrance  with  which  your  excellency 
was  pleased  to  honour  me,  under  date  of  the  29th  December  ; 
and  the  hope  it  holds  forth,  that  I  may  probably  see  you  in  the 
course  of  the  spring,  adds  to  my  satisfaction.  I  have  spoken  to 
Count  B.  touching  your  business.  He  told  me  that  every  thing 
was  at  your  own  disposition ;  that  you  had  only  to  send  a  brief 
receipt,  or  an  order  to  receive  the  money,  to  any  person  here, 
and  payment  would  be  made  ;  but  that  it  was  impossible  it 


510  PAUL    JONES. 

should  be  in  other  money  than  in  that  of  the  country.  You 
have  witnessed,  Sir,  the  efforts  I  have  made  in  this  business, 
and  that  every  thing  would  have  been  arranged  agreeably  to 
your  own  desire,  if  success  had  corresponded  to  the  warmth  of 
my  intentions.  They  entrench  themselves  behind  the  impos- 
sibility of  making  an  exception  to,  and  breach  of,  a  rule  gene- 
rally established.  Accept  my  sincere  compliments  on  the  flat- 
tering mark  of  esteem  and  distinction  which  the  United  States 
of  America  have  bestowed  upon  you.  They  have  anticipated 
history.  It  is  yet  doubtful  whether  we  shall  have  peace  this 
year ;  in  all  events  I  flatter  myself,  as  a  good  Russian,  that 
your  arm  is  always  reserved  for  us." 

Whatever  Bernstorf  may  seriously  have  intended,  it  is  certain 
that  Jones  never  received  a  farthing  of  the  Danish  pension. 

The  following  letter  in  French,  is  without  direction  : 

"  Amsterdam,  March  12th,  1790. 

"  SIR — I  answered  at  the  time  the  letter  you  did  me  the  ho- 
nour of  writing  me  from  Stuttgrade,  on  the  20th  June,  1788. 
That  letter  was  despatched  to  me  from  St.  Petersburgh,  to  the 
squadron  then  under  my  orders  before  Oczakow.  But  as  I 
have  not  been  honoured  with  new  advices  from  you  since  I 
wrote,  it  is  to  be  presumed  that  my  letter  did  not  reach  you.  I 
avail  myself  of  a  private  opportunity,  again  to  testify  my  grati- 
tude for  the  favour  you  have  been  pleased  to  do  me  on  the  part 
of  the  order  of  which  you  are  vice  chancellor,  by  transmitting  to 
me  a  copy  of  its  fundamental  laws,  and  proposing  to  receive  me 
as  a  member.  But  you  will  allow  me,  Sir,  at  the  same  time, 
to  repeat  to  you,  that  having  drawn  my  sword  only  for  honour, 
being  decorated  already  with  three  honourable  orders,  and 
having  received  glorious  marks  of  the  most  distinguished  satis- 
faclion  and  esteem  from  his  most  Christian  majesty  and  from 
the  United  States,  I  could  not  answer  it  to  myself  to  pay  mo- 
ney for  admission,  or  even  to  be  regarded  by  the  order  as  an 
hereditary  member.  I  have  no  right  to  interfere  with  the  order ; 
but  without  being  wanting  in  respect,  I  may  be  permitted  to 


PAUL   JONES.  511 

say,  that  I  have  never  bought  honours  otherwise  than  by  my 
conduct.  I  have  written  memoirs  of  my  campaigns,  but  have 
not  the  courage  to  give  them  up  for  publication.  I  expect  to 
remain  here  until  the  16th  of  April." 

Jones  went  to  England,  as  has  been  mentioned,  to  make  his 
arrangements  with  Dr.  Bancroft,  and  returned  to  Paris  the 
same  spring.  He  had  been  expected  in  that  city  early  in  the 
winter,  as  appears  by  a  letter  to  him  from  Mr.  Short,  United 
States  consul  at  the  court  of  France,  to  whom  he  had  written 
in  relation  to  the  medal,  and,  as  it  would  seem,  to  the  feasibility 
of  having  a  series  struck,  commemorating  his  victories.  It  also 
appears  by  this  letter,  that  M.  Grand,  Jones'  banker  in  Parisr 
had  no  money  belonging  to  him  in  his  hands  at  this  time  ; 
which  corroborates  the  belief  that  he  visited  England  from  ne- 
cessity. 

The  first  letter  from  Paris,  among  his  papers,  is  to  M.  Genet, 
who  remained  at  the  Russian  court,  after  Count  Segur  had  left 
it.  It  is  dated  June  1st.  "  As  I  arrived  here,"  he  says,  "  only 
a  few  days  ago,  from  Holland  and  England,  I  have  not 
yet  had  the  pleasure  to  see  your  sister.*  I  hope  to  have  the 
honour  very  soon,  and  will  deliver  to  her  rny  bust,  as  a  mark  of 
my  personal  regard  towards  your  father  and  yourself.  M.  de 
Simolin  does  me  the  honour  to  forward  this  letter  to  you.  I 
have  shown  him  proof  that,  if  I  have  not  sought  to  avenge  my- 
self of  the  unjust  and  cruel  treatment  I  met  with  in  Russia,  my 
forbearance  has  been  only  the  result  of  my  delicate  attachment 
towards  the  empress."  "  You  will  oblige  me  by  inquiring  at 
the  cabinet,  and  demanding  the  appointments  due  to  me  for  the 
current  year,  which  ends  the  1st  of  July,  agreeably  to  the  pro- 
mise of  the  empress,  communicated  to  me  by  the  Counts  de 
Bruce  and  Besborodko.  I  wish  to  have  that  money  immedi- 
ately transmitted  to  me." 


*  M.  Genet's  letter  of  introduction  to  Madame  Campan,  has  been  previously  men- 
tioned 


512  PAUL   JONES. 

Two  letters  to  a  lady  at  Avignon  may  be  introduced  here.  I 
am  not  informed  who  the  lady  was,  nor  do  the  papers  throw  any 
light  on  the  subject. 

To  Madame  Le  Mair  d'Altigny,  at  Avignon. 

"  Amsterdam,  8th  February,  1790. 

"I  have  received,  my  dear  madam,  the  two  obliging  letters 
you  did  me  the  honour  to  address  to  me  from  Avignon  on  the 
18th  and  22d  of  December.  Accept  also,  'I  pray  you,  my  sin- 
cere acknowledgments  for  the  two  letters  you  had  the  kindness 
to  send  me  at  Strasburgh.  I  am  infinitely  flattered  by  the  in- 
terest with  which  I  have  the  happiness  to  have  inspired  you, 
and  your  good  wishes  in  my  concerns  give  me  true  pleasure.  I 
am  not  come  here  on  account  of  any  thing  connected  with  mili- 
tary operations  ;  and  though  I  think  it  right  to  retain  my  rank, 
I  have  always  regarded  war  as  the  scourge  of  the  human  race. 
I  am  very  happy  that  you  are  once  more  above  your  difficulties. 
Past  events  will  enable  you  to  value  the  blessings  of  Providence, 
among  which,  to  a  sensible  heart,  there  are  none  greater  than 
health  and  independence,  enjoyed  in  the  agreeable  society  of 
persons  of  merit.  As  soon  as  circumstances  permit,  I  shall  feel 
eager  to  join  the  delightful  society  in  which  you  are.  As  you 
have  not  sent  me  your  address  at  Avignon,  I  beg  of  you  to  do 
so,  and  to  be  assured  of  my  entire  esteem." 

A  reply  was  received,  it  appears,  to  this  letter ;  but  the  cor- 
respondence was  not  briskly  sustained  on  the  part  of  Jones. 

"  Paris,  December  27,  1790. 

"  MY  DEAR  MADAM — I  have  received  your  charming  letter 
of  the  2d  March.  Having  an  affair  of  business  to  arrange  in 
England,  I  went  from  Amsterdam  to  London  at  the  beginning 
of  May,  to  settle  it.  I  escaped  being  murdered  on  landing. 
From  London  I  came  hither,  and  have  not  had  an  hour  of 
health  since  my  arrival.  I  now  feel  convalescent,  otherwise  I 
would  not  have  dared  to  write,  for  fear  of  giving  pain  to  your 
feeling  heart.  In  leaving  Holland  my  plan  was  to  repair  to 


PAUL   JONES.  513 

Avignon,  in  compliance  with  your  obliging  invitation.  My 
health  formed  an  invincible  obstacle,  but  I  still  hope  to  indem- 
nify myself  on  the  return  of  the  fine  weather.  I  was  for  a  long 
time  very  much  alarmed  by  the  disturbances  which  interrupted 
the  peace  of  your  city,  and  am  very  glad  to  see  they  are  ended. 
I  have  learned,  with  lively  satisfaction,  that  they  have  had  no 
disagreeable  consequences  so  far  as  regards  you.  Give  me 
news  of  yourself,  I  pray  you,  and  of  those  interesting  persons 
of  whom  you  speak  in  your  last  letter.  Accept  the  assurance 
of  the  sincere  sentiments  which  you  are  formed  to  inspire." 

The  following  letter  to  his  sister,  Mrs.  Taylor,  is  one  of  the 
few  documents  which  remain  to  be  inserted,  that  can  be  read 
without  painful  associations.  The  last  enemy  with  whom  all 
men  have  to  contend,  and  to  whom  they  must  all  yield  up  their 
earthly  possessions,  hopes,  and  dreams,  had  already  effected  a 
lodgement  in  the  constitution  of  Jones;  and  the  period  of  action 
was  closed  for  him.  Disappointment  from  many  quarters  embit- 
tered the  last  two  years  of  his  life,  and  promoted  the  progress 
of  the  disease,  or  more  properly  complication  of  diseases,  which 
was  hurrying  him  from  a  world  of  restlessness  and  perplexity. 

"  Amsterdam,  March  26,  1790. 

"  I  wrote  you,  my  dear  friend,  from  Paris,  by  Mr.  Kennedy, 
who  delivered  me  the  kind  letter  you  wrote  me  by  him.  Cir- 
cumstances obliged  me  to  return  soon  afterwards  to  America, 
and  on  my  arrival  at  New  York,  Mr.  Thomson  delivered  me  a 
letter  that  had  been  intrusted  to  his  care  by  Mrs.  Loudon.  It 
would  be  superfluous  to  mention  the  great  satisfaction  I  received 
in  hearing  from  two  persons  I  so  much  love  and  esteem,  and 
whose  worthy  conduct  as  wives  and  mothers  is  so  respectable 
in  my  eyes.  Since  my  return  to  Europe,  a  train  of  circum- 
stances and  changes  of  residence  have  combined  to  keep  me 
silent.  This  has  given  me  more  pain  than  I  can  express ;  for  I 
have  a  tender  regard  for  you  both,  and  nothing  can  be  indifferent 
to  me  that  regards  your  happiness  and  the  welfare  of  your  chil- 
dren. I  wish  for  a  particular  detail  of  their  age,  respective  ta- 

64 


514  PAUL   JONES. 

lents,  characters,  and  education.  I  do  not  desire  this  informa 
tion  merely  from  curiosity.  It  would  afford  me  real  satisfaction 
to  be  useful  to  their  establishment  in  life.  We  must  study  the 
genius  and  inclination  of  the  boys,  and  try  to  fit  them,  by  a  suit- 
able education,  for  the  pursuits  we  may  be  able  to  adopt  for 
their  advantage.  When  their  education  shall  be  advanced  to 
a  proper  stage,  at  the  school  of  Dumfries  for  instance,  it  must 
then  be  determined  whether  it  may  be  most  economical  and  ad- 
vantageous for  them  to  go  to  Edinburgh  or  France  to  finish 
their  studies.  All  this  is  supposing  them  to  have  great  natural 
genius  and  goodness  of  disposition  ;  for  without  these  they  can 
never  become  eminent.  For  the  females,  they  require  an  edu- 
catjon  suited  to  the  delicacy  of  character  that  is  becoming  in 
their  sex.  I  wish  I  had  a  fortune  to  offer  to  each  of  them ;  but 
though  this  is  not  the  case,  I  may  yet  be  useful  to  them.  And 
I  desire  particularly  to  be  useful  to  the  two  young  women,  who 
have  a  double  claim  to  my  regard,  as  they  have  lost  their  father. 
Present  my  kind  compliments  to  Mrs.  Loudon,  to  her  husband, 
to  Mr.  Taylor,  and  your  two  families,  and  depend  on  my  affec- 
tionate attachment. 

"  Write  me  without  delay,  and  having  sealed  and  directed 
your  letter  as  you  did  the  one  you  sent  me  by  Mr.  Kennedy,  let 
it  be  enclosed  in  a  cover,  and  direct  the  cover  thus,  '  To  Mes- 
sieurs Stophorst  and  Hubbard,  Amsterdam.'  You  will  inquire 
if  it  be  necessary  to  pay  a  part  of  the  postage,  in  order  that  the 
letter  may  be  sent  to  Holland  in  the  packet.  I  should  be  glad 
if  the  two  Miss  Youngs*  would  do  me  the  favour  to  write  me 
each  a  paragraph  in  your  letter,  or  to  write  me,  if  they  prefer  it, 
each  a  separate  letter,  and  I  should  be  glad  to  find  that  they  un- 
derstand and  can  write  the  French." 

On  the  24th  of  July,  in  this  year,  (1790,)  he  thought  proper 
to  address  a  letter  to  Potemkin.  The  admirers  of  his  courage 


*  His  orphan  nieces  alluded  to  above. 


PAUL   JONES.  515 

and  independence  of  character,  will  regret  that  he  should  have 
done  so,  unless  business  or  etiquette  required  it.  But  it  must 
be  recollected,  that  this  was  the  only  useful  avenue  through  which 
he  could  approach  the  throne  of  the  Czarina  ;  that  he  was 
wearied  with  his  inert  and  unpleasant  position ;  and  that  his 
habit  of  persevering,  by  letter  writing,  to  enforce  the  accomplish- 
ment of  his  objects,  from  those  in  power,  by  dint  of  importunity, 
was  constitutional  and  inveterate. 

"  Paris,  24th  July,  1790. 

"  MY  LORD — I  do  not  think  it  becomes  me  to  let  pass  the 
occasion  of  the   return  of  your  aid-de-camp,  to  congratulate 
you  on  the  brilliant  success  of  your  operations  since  I  had  the 
honour  to  serve  under  your  orders,  and  to  express  to  you,  in  all 
the  sincerity  of  my  heart,  the  regret  I  feel  in  not  being  fortunate 
enough  to  contribute  thereto.     After  the  campaign  of  Liman, 
when  I  had  leave,  according  to  the  special  desire  of  her  impe- 
rial majesty,  to  return  to  the  department  of  the  northern  seas, 
your  highness  did  me  the  favour  to  grant  me  a  letter  of  recom- 
mendation to  the  empress,  and  to  speak  to  me  these  words: 
'  Rely  upon  my  attachment.     I  am  disposed  to  grant  you  the 
most  solid  proofs  of  my  friendship  for  the  present  and  for  the 
future.'     Do  you  recollect  them  ?  This  disclosure  was  too  flat- 
tering for  me  to  forget  it,  and  I  hope  you  will  permit  me  to  re- 
mind you  of  it.     Circumstances  and  the  high  rank  of  my  ene- 
mies have  deprived  me  of  the  benefits  which  I  had  dared  to  hope 
from  the  esteem  which  you  had  expressed  for  me,  and  which  I 
had  endeavoured  to  merit  by  my  services.     You  know  the  dis- 
agreeable situation  in  which  I  was  placed  ;  but  if,  as  I  dared  to 
believe,  I  have  preserved  your  good  opinion,  I  may  still  hope  to 
see  it  followed  by  advantages,  which  it  will  be  my  glory  to  owe 
to  you.     M.  de  Simolin  can  testify  to  you,  that  my  attachment 
to  Russia,  and  to  the  great  princess  who  is  its  sovereign,  has 
always  been  constant  and  durable  ;  I  attended  to  my  duties,  and 
not  to   my  fortune.     I  have  been  wrong,  and  I  avow  it  with 
a  frankness  which  carries  with  it  its  own  excuse :  1st,  That  I 


516  PAUL   JONES. 

did  not  request  of  you  a  carte-blanche,  and  the  absolute  com- 
mand of  all  the  forces  of  the  Liman.  2d,  To  have  written  to 
your  highness  under  feelings  highly  excited,  on  the  25th  Octo- 
ber, (N.  S.)  1788.  These  are  my  faults.  If  my  enemies  have 
wished  to  impute  others  to  me,  I  swear  before  God  that  they 
are  a  calumny.  It  only  rests  with  me,  my  lord,  to  unmask  the 
villany  of  my  enemies,  by  publishing  my  journal  of  the  opera- 
tions of  the  campaign  of  Liman,  with  the  proofs,  clear  as  the 
day,  and  which  I  have  in  my  hands.  It  only  rests  with  me  to 
prove  that  I  directed,  under  your  orders,  all  the  useful  opera- 
tions against  the  capitan  pacha  ;  that  it  was  I  who  beat  him  on 
the  7th  June ;  that  it  was  I  and  the  brave  men  I  commanded 
who  conquered  him  on  the  17th  June,  and  who  chased  into  the 
sands  two  of  his  largest  galleys,  before  our  flotilla  was  ready  to 
fire  a  single  shot,  and  during  the  time  a  very  considerable  part 
of  the  force  of  the  enemy  remained  at  anchor  immediately  in 
rear  of  my  squadron  ;  that  it  was  I  who  gave  to  General  Su- 
vorroff,  (he  had  the  nobleness  to  declare  it  at  court  before  me, 
to  the  most  respectable  witnesses,)  the  first  project  to  establish 
the  battery  and  breast-works  on  the  isthmus  of  Kinbourn,  and 
which  were  of  such  great  utility  on  the  night  of  the  17th — 18th 
June;  that  it  was  I,  in  person,  who  towed,  with  my  sloops  and 
other  vessels,  the  batteries  which  were  the  nearest  to  the  place, 
the  1st  July,  and  who  took  the  Turkish  galleys  by  boarding, 
very  much  in  advance  of  our  line,  whilst  some  gentlemen,  who 
have  been  too  highly  rewarded  in  consequence  of  it,  were  con- 
tent to  remain  in  the  rear  of  the  struggles  of  our  line,  if  I  may 
be  allowed  to  use  the  expression,  sheltered  from  danger.  You 
have  seen,  yourself,  my  lord,  that  I  never  valued  my  person  on 
any  occasion  where  I  had  the  good  fortune  to  act  under  your  eye. 
The  whole  of  Europe  acknowledges  my  veracity,  and  grants  me 
some  military  talents,  which  it  would  give  me  pleasure  to  employ 
in  the  service  of  Russia,  under  your  orders. 

"  The  time  will  arrive,  my  lord,  when  you  will  know  the  exact 
truth  of  what  I  have  told  you.  Time  is  a  sovereign  master. 
It  will  teach  you  to  appreciate  the  man,  who,  loaded  with  your 


PAUL  JONES.  517 

benefits,  departed  from  the  court  of  Russia  with  a  memorial 
prepared  by  other  hands  and  the  enemies  of  your  glory,  and  of 
which  memorial  he  made  no  use,  because  your  brilliant  success 
at  the  taking  of  Oczakow,  which  he  learned  on  his  arrival  in 
White  Russia,  gave  the  lie  to  all  the  horrors  which  had  been 
brought  forward  to  enrage  the  empress  against  you.  You  know 
it  was  the  echo  of  another  intriguer  at  the  court  of  Vienna.  In 
fine,  time  will  teach  you,  my  lord,  that  I  am  neither  a  mounte- 
bank nor  a  swindler,  but  a  man  true  and  loyal.  I  rely  upon  the 
attachment  and  friendship  which  you  promised  me.  I  rely  on 
it,  because  I  feel  myself  worthy  of  it.  I  reclaim  your  promise, 
because  you  are  just,  and  I  know  you  are  a  lover  of  truth.  I 
commanded,  and  was  the  only  responsible  person  in  the  cam- 
paign of  the  Liman,  the  others  being  only  of  inferior  rank,  or 
simple  volunteers;  and  I  am,  however,  the  only  one  who  has 
not  been  promoted  or  rewarded.  I  am  extremely  thankful  for 
the  order  of  St.  Anne  which  you  procured  for  me,  according  to 
your  letter  of  thanks,  for  my  conduct  in  the  affair  of  the  1th  June, 
which  was  not  decisive.  The  17th  June  I  gained  over  the  capi- 
tan  pacha  a  complete  victory,  which  saved  Cherson  and  Kin- 
bourn,  the  terror  of  which  caused  the  enemy  to  lose  nine  vessels 
of  war  in  their  precipitate  flight  on  the  following  night,  under 
the  cannon  of  the  battery  and  breast-work  which  I  had  caused 
to  be  erected  in  the  isthmus  of  Kinbourn.  On  this  occasion  I 
had  the  honour  again  to  receive  a  letter  of  thanks;  but  my  ene- 
mies and  rivals  have  found  means  to  abuse  your  confidence, 
since  they  have  been  exclusively  rewarded.  They  merited  ra- 
ther to  have  been  punished  for  having  burnt  nine  armed  prizes, 
with  their  crews,  which  were  absolutely  in  our  power,  having 
previously  ran  aground  under  our  guns. 

"  I  have  been  informed  that,  according  to  the  institution  of 
the  order  of  St.  George,  I  have  the  right  to  claim  its  decora- 
tions in  the  second  class  for  the  victory  of  the  17th  June,  but  I 
rely  upon  your  justice  and  generosity.  I  regret  that  a  secret 
project,  which  I  addressed  to  the  Count  de  Besborodko  the  6th 
of  June  of  the  last  year,  has  not  been  adopted.  I  communi- 


518  PAUL  JONES. 

cated  this  project  to  the  Baron  de  Beichler,  who  has  promised 
me  to  speak  to  you  of  it.  I  was  detained  in  St.  Petersburgh 
until  the  end  of  August,  in  order  to  hinder  me,  as  I  have  heard, 
from  proceeding  into  the  service  of  Sweden.  My  poor  enemies, 
how  I  pity  them !  But  for  this  circumstance  my  intention  was 
to  have  presented  myself  at  your  head-quarters,  in  the  hope  to 
be  of  some  utility ;  and  the  Baron  de  Beichler,  in  departing 
from  St.  Petersburgh  in  order  to  join  you,  promised  me  to  as- 
sure you  of  my  devotion  for  the  service  of  your  department,  and 
that  I  should  hold  myself  ready  to  return  to  you  the  instant  I 
was  called.  My  conduct  has  not  since  changed,  although  I  hold 
in  my  hand  a  parole  for  two  years,  and  I  regard  eighteen 
months  of  this  parole,  in  a  time  of  war,  more  as  a  punishment 
than  as  a  favour.  I  hope  that  your  highness  will  succeed  in 
concluding  peace  this  year  with  the  Turks;  but,  in  a  contrary 
case,  if  it  should  please  you  to  recall  me  to  take  command  of  the 
fleet  in  the  ensuing  campaign,  I  would  ask  permission  to  bring 
with  me  the  French  officer  concerning  whom  I  spoke  to  you, 
with  one  or  two  others,  who  are  good  tacticians,  and  who  have 
some  knowledge  of  war.  On  my  return  here  I  received  a  gold 
medal,  granted  me  by  the  unanimous  voice  of  Congress,  at  the 
moment  I  received  a  parole  from  this  honourable  body.  The 
United  States  have  decreed  me  this  honour,  in  order  to  perpe- 
tuate the  remembrance  of  the  services  which  I  rendered  to 
America  eight  years  previous,  and  have  ordered  a  copy  to  be 
presented  to  all  the  sovereigns  and  all  the  academies  of  Europe, 
with  the  exception  of  Great  Britain.  There  is  reason  to  be- 
lieve that  your  highness  will  be  numbered  among  the  sovereigns 
of  Europe,  in  consequence  of  the  treaty  of  peace  which  you  are 
about  to  conclude  with  the  Turks ;  but  in  any  case,  if  a  copy  of 
my  medal  will  be  acceptable  to  you  as  a  mark  of  my  attach- 
ment for  your  person,  it  will  do  me  an  honour  to  offer  it  to  you. 

"  PAUL  JONES." 

Indisposition  gaining  upon  his  health  daily,  to  which  he  ad- 
verts in  seteral  of  his  letters,  probabiy  interrupted  his  active 


PAUL  JONES.  519 

correspondence  during  this  year  ;  and  the  record  of  his  engage- 
ments, occupations,  and  thoughts,  is  scanty.  It  would  probably 
be  but  a  feverish  picture,  painful  to  contemplate.  The  follow- 
ing, written  on  hearing  of  a  family  dissension,  is  the  only  other 
of  interest,  among  his  papers,  written  in  1790  : 

'  "  Paris,  December  27, 1790. 

"  I  duly  received,  my  dear  Mrs.  Taylor,  your  letter  of  the 
16th  August,  but  ever  since  that  time  I  have  been  unable  to 
answer  it,  not  having  been  capable  to  go  out  of  my  chamber, 
and  having  been  for  the  most  part  obliged  to  keep  my  bed.  I 
have  now  no  doubt  but  that  I  am  in  a  fair  way  of  a  perfect  re- 
covery, though  it  will  require  time  and  patience. 

"  I  shall  not  conceal  from  you  that  your  family  discord  aggra- 
vates infinitely  all  my  pains.  My  grief  is  inexpressible,  that 
two  sisters,  whose  happiness  is  so  interesting  to  me,  do  not  live 
together  in  that  mutual  tenderness  and  affection  which  would  do 
so  much  honour  to  themselves  and  to  the  memory  of  their  wor- 
thy relations.  Permit  me  to  recommend  to  your  serious  study 
and  application  Pope's  Universal  Prayer.  You  will  find  more 
morality  in  that  little  piece,  than  in  many  volumes  that  have 
been  written  by  great  divines — 

'  Teach  me  to  feel  another's  wo, 

To  hide  the  fault  I  see  ; 
That  mercy  I  to  others  show, 

Such  mercy  show  tome!' 

"  This  is  not  the  language  of  a  weak  superstitious  mind,  but 
the  spontaneous  offspring  of  true  religion,  springing  from  a 
heart  sincerely  inspired  by  charity,  and  deeply  impressed  with 
a  sense  of  the  calamities  and  frailties  of  human  nature.  If  the 
sphere  in  which  Providence  has  placed  us  as  members  of  so- 
ciety requires  the  exercise  of  brotherly  kindness  and  charity 
towards  our  neighbour  in  general,  how  much  more  is  this  our 
duty  with  respect  to  individuals  with  whom  we  are  connected 
by  thr  near  and  tender  ties  of  nature,  as  well  as  moral  obligation 


520  PAUL   JOKES. 

Every  lesser  virtue  may  pass  away,  but  charity  comes  from 
Heaven,  and  is  immortal.  Though  I  wish  to  be  the  instru- 
ment of  making  family  peace,  which  I  flatter  myself  would  tend 
to  promote  the  happiness  of  you  all,  yet  I  by  no  means  desire 
you  to  do  violence  to  your  own  feelings,  by  taking  any  step  that 
is  contrary  to  your  own  judgment  and  inclination.  Your  re- 
conciliation must  come  free  from  your  heart,  otherwise  it  will 
not  last,  and  therefore  it  will  be  better  not  to  attempt  it.  Should 
a  reconciliation  take  place,  I  recommend  it  of  all  things,  that 
you  never  mention  past  grievances,  nor  show,  by  word,  look,  or 
action,  that  you  have  not  forgot  them."  ; 

Early  in  the  next  year,  1791,  he  again  memorialized  the 
empress,  having,  for  aught  that  appears  to  the  contrary,  heard 
nothing  directly  or  indirectly  from  Potemkin,  and  having  been 
cheered  with  no  intimation  from  the  empress,  that  she  had  read 
his  journals  and  justificatory  papers,  or  held  him  in  remem- 
brance as  an  officer  subject  to  her  orders. 

To  her  Imperial  Majesty  of  all  the  Russias. 

"  Paris,  8th  March,  (N.  S.)  1791. 

"  MADAM — If  I  could  imagine  that  the  letter  which  I  had  the 
honour  to  write  to  your  majesty  from  Warsaw,  the  25th  Sep- 
tember, 1789,  had  come  to  hand,  it  would  be  without  doubt  in- 
discreet in  me  to  beg  you  to  cast  your  eyes  on  the  documents 
enclosed,  which  accuse  no  person,*  and  the  only  intent  of  which 
is,  to  let  you  see  that  in  the  important  campaign  of  Liman,  the 
part  which  I  played  was  not  either  that  of  a  zero  or  of  a  harle- 
quin, who  required  to  be  made  a  colonel  at  the  tail  of  his  regi- 
ment. I  have  in  my  hands  the  means  to  prove,  incontestibly, 
that  I  directed  all  the  useful  operations  against  the  capitan  pa- 
cha. The  task  which  was  given  to  me  at  this  critical  conjunc- 


*  Inserted  probably  to  provide  for  the  case  of  the  letters  being  intercepted  and  read 
by  Besborodko,  as  he  had  been  informed  happened  before ;  which  he  intimates  in  a 
letter  to  Mr.  Littlepage,  previously  inserted. 


PAUL   JONES.  531 

ture  was  very  difficult.  I  was  obliged  to  sacrifice  my  own 
opinion  and  risk  my  military  reputation  for  the  benefit  of  your 
empire.  But  I  hope  you  will  be  satisfied  with  the  manner  in 
which  I  conducted  myself,  and  also  of  the  subsequent  arrange- 
ments, of  which  I  am  persuaded  you  have  not  been  acquainted 
until  this  moment.  The  gracious  counsel  which  your  majesty 
has  often  done  me  the  honour  to  repeat  to  me  before  my  depar- 
ture for  the  Black  Sea,  and  in  the  letter  which  you  deigned  to 
write  to  me  afterwards,  has  since  been  the  rule  of  my  conduct ; 
and  the  faithful  attachment  with  which  you  had  inspired  me  for 
your  person,  was  the  only  reason  which  hindered  me  from  re- 
questing my  dismissal  when  I  wrote  to  you  from  Warsaw ;  for 
I  confess  that  I  was  extremely  afflicted,  and  even  offended,  at 
having  received  a  parole  for  two  years  in  time  of  war ;  a  parole 
which  it  has  never  entered  into  my  mind  to  wish  for,  and  still 
less  to  ask,  and  of  which  I  have  not  profited  to  go  to  America, 
or  even  to  Denmark,*  where  I  had  important  business ;  for  I 
had  always  hoped  to  be  usefully  employed  in  your  service,  be- 
fore the  expiration  of  this  parole,  which  has  done  me  so  much 
injury  ;  and  although  in  public  I  would  not  have  failed  to  have 
spoken  to  you  at  the  last  audience  which  you  granted  me,  yet  I 
was  unfortunately  led  to  believe  the  repeated  promises  made 
me,  that  I  should  have  a  private  audience,  in  order  to  lay  before 
you  my  military  projects,  and  to  speak  of  them  in  detail. 

"  I  hope  that  the  brilliant  success  with  which  Providence  has 
blessed  your  arms,  will  enable  you  to  grant  peace  to  your  ene- 
mies without  shedding  more  of  human  blood  ;  but  in  a  contrary 
case,  your  majesty  can  be  well  instructed  from  my  projects,  No. 
12,  of  the  last  year. 

"  As  I  have  my  enemies,  and  as  the  term  of  my  parole  is 
about  to  expire,  I  await  the  orders  of  your  majesty,  and  should 


*  There  is  no  reason  to  believe  that  he  wrote  thus  merely  from  policy,  or  was  not 
sincere.  On  the  contrary,  if  he  had  gone  to  Copenhagen,  it  is  likely  that  he  would 
have  obtained  the  arrearages  of  his  pension ;  and  that  he  was  prevented  by  considera- 
tions arising  from  his  relations  to  the  Russian  government. 

65 


522  PAUL   JONES. 

be  flattered,  if  it  is  your  pleasure  for  me  to  come  and  render 

you  an  account  in  person.     Mr. ,  who  has  the  goodness  to 

charge  himself  with  this  packet,  which  I  have  addressed  to  him, 
sealed  with  my  arms,  will  also  undertake  to  forward  me  your 
orders ;  I  therefore  pray  you  to  withdraw  me  as  soon  as  possi- 
ble from  the  cruel  uncertainty  in  which  I  am  placed.  Should 
you  deign,  Madam,  to  inform  me  that  you  are  pleased  with  the 
services  which  I  have  had  the  happiness  to  render  you,  I  will 
console  myself  for  the  misfortunes  which  I  have  suffered,  as  I 
drew  my  sword  for  you  from  personal  attachment  and  ambition, 
but  not  for  interest.  My  fortune,  as  you  know,  is  not  very  con- 
siderable ;  but  as  I  am  philosopher  enough  to  confine  myself  to 
my  means,  I  shall  be  always  rich." 

The  following  correspondence  with  two  ladies  whom  he  num- 
bered among  his  friends,  took  place  at  this  time,  and  diversifies 
the  character  of  the  remaining  materials  for  his  biography. 

To  Mesdames  Le  Grande  and  Rinsby.  a  Trevoux,  pres  de  Licm 

"  Paris,  February  25,  1791. 

"  DEAR  AND  AMIABLE  LADIES — Madame  Clement  has  read 
me  part  of  a  letter  from  you,  in  which  you  conclude  that  I  pre 
fer  love  to  friendship,  and  Paris  to  Trevoux.  As  to  the  first 
part  you  may  be  right,  for  love  frequently  communicates  divine 
qualities,  and  in  that  light  may  be  considered  as  the  cordial  that 
Providence  has  bestowed  on  mortals,  to  help  them  to  digest  the 
nauseous  draught  of  life.  Friendship,  they  say,  has  more  solid 
qualities  than  love.  This  is  a  question  I  shall  not  attempt  to 
resolve ;  but  sad  experience  generally  shows,  that  where  we  ex- 
pect to  find  a  friend,  we  have  only  been  treacherously  deluded 
by  false  appearances,  and  that  the  goddess  herself  very  seldom 
confers  her  charms  on  any  of  the  human  race.  As  to  the  second, 
I  am  too  much  a  philosopher  to  prefer  noise  to  tranquillity:  if 
this  does  not  determine  the  preference  between  Paris  and  Tre- 
voux, I  will  add,  that  I  have  had  very  bad  health  almost  ever 


PAUL   JONES.  523 

since  your  departure,  and  that  other  circumstances  have  con- 
spired to  detain  me  here,  which  have  nothing  to  do  either  with 
love  or  friendship.  My  health  is  now  recovering,  and  as  what 
is  retarded  is  not  always  lost,  I  hope  soon  to  have  the  happiness 
of  paying  you  my  personal  homage,  and  of  renewing  the  assu- 
rance of  that  undiminished  attachment  which  women  of  such 
distinguished  worth  and  talents  naturally  inspire.  I  am,"  &c. 

The  answer  of  the  lady  first  mentioned  in  the  direction  of 
this  letter,  follows. 

"Trevoux,  6th  March,  1791. 

"  SIR — I  had  given  up  the  hope  of  receiving  any  intelligence 
of  your  excellency,  and  I  acknowledge  it  cost  me  much  before  I 
could  believe  that  the  promise  of  a  great  man  was  no  more  to 
be  relied  on  than  that  of  the  herd  of  mankind.  The  letter  with 
which  you  have  honoured  me  convinces  me  that  my  heart  knew 
you  better  than  my  head ;  for  though  my  reason  whispered  that 
you  had  quite  forgotten  us,  I  was  unwilling  to  believe  it. 

"  Madame  Wolfe,  as  well  as  myself,  is  much  concerned  for 
the  bad  state  of  your  health.  I  am  sorry  that,  like  myself,  your 
excellency  is  taught  the  value  of  health  by  sickness.  Come  to 
us,  Sir  ;  if  you  do  not  find  here  the  pleasures  you  enjoy  in  Paris, 
you  will  find  a  good  air,  frugal  meals,  freedom,  and  hearts  that 
can  appreciate  you. 

"  I  am  concerned  to  perceive  that  your  excellency  is  an  un- 
believer in  friendship.  Alas,  if  you  want  friends,  who  shall  pre- 
tend to  possess  them  !  I  hope  you  will  recover  from  this  error, 
and  be  convinced  that  friendship  is  something  more  than  a  chi- 
mera of  Plato. 

"  Do  me  the  favour  to  acquaint  me  with  the  time  we  may 
expect  the  honour  of  seeing  you.  I  must  be  absent  for  some 
days,  and  I  would  not  for  any  thing  in  the  world  that  I  should 
not  be  here  on  your  arrival.  If  I  knew  the  time,  I  would  send 
my  little  carriage  to  meet  the  stage-coach,  as  I  suppose  you  will 
take  thaf  conveyance. 


534  PAUL   JONES. 

"  Madame  Wolfe  expects  the  moment  of  your  arrival  with  as 
much  eagerness  as  myself,  (she  says ;)  but  as  I  best  know  my 
own  feelings,  I  am  certain  I  go  beyond  her.  Of  this  I  am  cer- 
tain, that  we  shall  both  count  the  day  till  we  have  the  happiness 
of  seeing  you.  Come  quickly  then,  I  pray  you." 

To  several  letters  written  by  him  at  the  close  of  February,  in 
which  he  seems  to  have  had  a  respite  from  the  immediate  ef- 
fects of  his  malady,  it  is  merely  necessary  to  allude.  The  United 
States  having  named  a  vice  consul  for  the  port  of  Marseilles,  and 
the  appointment  of  other  functionaries  for  commercial  purposes 
in  different  European  ports  being  expected,  he  offered  to  his 
banker  in  Paris,  (M.  Grand,)  his  good  offices  with  the  United 
States'  secretary  of  legation,  Mr.  Short,  to  procure  him  such  a 
situation,  which  he  had  seemed  desirous  of  obtaining  ;  and  to 
the  latter  gentleman  he  wrote,  recommending  M.  Neissen,  a 
merchant  of  Amsterdam,  and  friend  of  his,  to  be  nominated  as 
consul  for  that  port.  He  also  recommended  the  appointment 
of  a  commercial  agent  at  Elsineur.  He  says  in  the  conclusion 
of  this  letter  :  "  I  called  the  other  day  on  M.  Dupres,  who  in- 
formed me  that  Mr.  Jefferson  had  taken  from  him  the  dies  of  my 
medal,  after  three  examples  only  had  been  struck.  Pray  are  the 
dies  in  your  possession,  or  are  they  carried  to  America  ?  Accept 
my  compliments  on  your  success,  and  on  the  credit  of  your 
country.  But  I  am  still  of  opinion  that  a  loan  may  be  made,  at 
less  than  5  per  cent."  He  enclosed  his  vindicatory  papers,  in 
relation  to  the  Russian  campaign,  to  the  Hon.  William  Carmi- 
chael,  who  was  in  a  diplomatic  capacity  at  Madrid.  He  says  : 
"  You  will  judge  how  unfortunate  I  was,  in  having  to  do  with 
the  greatest  knight  of  industry*  under  the  sun:  an  enemy  the 


*  He  writes  in  English,  but  uses  a  French  phrase,  which  though  now  universal, 
may  perhaps  not  be  familiar  to  some  American  readers.  The  chevalier  d'industrie 
is  neither  more  nor  less  than  a  black-leg,  which  phrase  he  does  not  scruple  to  apply, 
not  without  figurative  propriety,  to  the  Prince  de  Nassau.  He  was  a  gambler  or  specu- 
lator in  the  wars  between  nations. 


PAUL   JONES. 

more  dangerous,  as  his  ignorance,  which  has  since  appeared  in 
such  glaring  colours  to  all  Europe,  had  put  me  off  my  guard* 
Soon  after  I  left  Russia,  I  sent  to  the  empress  my  journal  of 
the  important  campaign  I  commanded  on  the  Liman,  and  be- 
fore Oczakow  ;  but  it  contained  such  damning  proofs  against 
my  enemies,  that  it  has  undoubtedly  been  intercepted.  As  a 
sure  occasion  offers,  I  shall  write  again  next  month  ;  and  my 
letter  will  contain  my  resignation,  in  case  I  receive  no  imme- 
diate satisfaction."  In  a  postscript  he  asks :  "  Pray  can  you 
inform  me  whether  any  thing  efficacious  is  in  agitation,  for  the 
relief  of  our  unhappy  countrymen  at  Algiers  ?  Nothing  pso- 
vokes  me  so  much,  as  the  shameful  neglect  they  have  so  long 
experienced." 

On  the  20th  of  March  following,  he  addressed  Mr.  Jefferson 
at  great  length,  and  as  the  letter  has  been  several  times  pub- 
lished, and  is  not  essentially  necessary  to  the  exposition  of  his 
feelings  and  circumstances,  extracts  from  it  will  suffice.  He 
informed  the  secretary  of  state,  that  he  had  received  no  answers 
to  his  letters  addressed  to  the  high  public  officers  in  America^, 
more  than  a  year  previous  ;  congratulated  him  on  the  accep- 
tance of  the  high  station  which  he  filled  ;  and  took  occasion  to 
make  a  remark,  suggested  by  the  contrast  between  the  lavish 
amount  of  European  appointments,  which  he  immediately  had 
under  his  eye,  and  those  dictated  by  the  spirit  of  republican 
economy  which  have,  even  up  to  this  time,  been  found  sufficient 
to  make  a  post  in  the  American  cabinet  an  object  of  patriotic 
ambition.  He  said,  "  It  gives  me  pain  that  so  inadequate  a 
provision  has  been  made,  for  doing  the  honours  incumbent  on 
the  first  minister  of  a  nation  of  such  resources  as  America, 
and  I  wish  that  matter  may  be  soon  changed  to  your  satis- 
faction." Mr.  Jefferson  argued  in  favour  of  no  increase  of 
salary. 

Jones  mentions  the  documents  in  his  vindication,  which  he 
transmitted  with  his  despatch,  and  intimated  his  presentiment  that 
he  should  be  constrained  to  withdraw  from  the  Russian  service, 
and  publish  his  journal  of  the  campaign.  Referring  to  the  scandal 


PAUL   JONES. 

which  was  made  available  to  drive  him  from  St.  Petersburgh,  he 
says :  "  Chevalier  Littlepage,  now  here  on  his  way  from  Spain  to 
the  north,  has  promised  me  a  letter  to  you  on  my  subject,  which 
I  presume  will  show  the  meanness  and  absurdity  of  the  intrigues 
that  were  practised  for  my  persecution  at  St.  Petersburgh.  I 
did  not  myself  comprehend  all  the  blackness  of  that  business 
before  he  came  here,  and  related  to  me  the  information  he  re- 
ceived from  a  gentleman  of  high  rank  in  the  diplomatic  depart- 
ment, with  whom  he  travelled  in  company  from  Madrid  to  Paris. 
That  gentleman  had  long  resided  in  a  public  character  at  St. 
Petersburgh,  and  was  there  all  the  time  of  the  pitiful  complot 
against  me  ;  which  was  conducted  by  a  little-great  man  behind 
the  curtain.  The  unequalled  reception  with  which  I  had,  at 
first,  been  honoured  by  the  empress,  had  been  extremely  mor- 
tifying and  painful  to  the  English  at  St.  Petersburgh,  and  the 
courtier  just  mentioned,  (finding  that  politics  had  taken  a  turn 
far  more  alarming  than  he  had  expected  at  the  beginning  of  the 
war,)  wishing  to  sooth  the  court  of  London  into  a  pacific  humour, 
found  no  first  step  so  expedient  as  that  of  sacrificing  me !  But 
instead  of  producing  the  effect  he  wished,  this  base  conduct,  on 
which  he  pretended  to  ground  a  conciliation,  rather  widened  the 
political  breach,  and  made  him  to  be  despised  by  the  English 
minister,  by  the  English  cabinet,  and  by  the  gentleman  who  re- 
lated the  secret  to  the  Chevalier  Littlepage."  The  reader  must 
exe~cise  his  own  sagacity  in  conjecturing  who  this  little  great 
man  and  courtier  was  ;  it  surpasses  that  of  the  editor.  It  is 
but  just  to  remark,  however,  that  this  statement  seems  to  excul- 
pate any  English  agent  from  a  direct  action  in  the  propagation 
of  the  infamous  slander.  Jones  next  informed  Mr.  Jefferson 
of  the  circumstances  under  which  the  patent  was  given,  grant- 
ing him  during  life  a  pension  of  fifteen  hundred  crowns  from  the 
treasury  of  Denmark.  This  patent  was  dated  on  the  4th  day 
of  December,  1788,  the  same  day  on  which  Count  Bernstorf 
wrote  the  letter  to  Jones,  which  effectually  terminated  the  pro- 
gress of  his  negotiations  at  that  time.  In  Jones'  letter  to  Mr. 
Jefferson  immediately  after,  he  makes  no  mention  of  the  par- 


PAUL   JONES.  527 

ticular  circumstances  and  manner  in  which  the  propitiatory  ob- 
lation was  made,  though  he  refers  to  his  interview  with  the 
prince.  In  the  letter  now  before  us,  he  says : 

"  The  day  before  I  left  the  court  of  Copenhagen,  the  prince 
royal  had  desired  to  speak  with  me  in  his  apartment.  His 
royal  highness  was  extremely  polite,  and  after  saying  many 
civil  things,  remarked,  he  hoped  I  was  satisfied  with  the  atten- 
tions that  had  been  shown  to  me  since  my  arrival,  and  that  the 
king  would  wish  to  give  me  some  mark  of  his  esteem.  '  I  have 
never  had  the  happiness  to  render  any  service  to  his  majesty.' 
'  That  is  nothing ;  a  man  like  you  ought  to  be  excepted  from 
ordinary  rules.  You  could  not  have  shown  yourself  more  deli- 
cate as  regards  our  flag,  and  every  person  here  loves  you.' 

"  I  took  leave  without  farther  explanation.  I  have  felt  my- 
seif  in  an  embarrassing  situation  on  account  of  the  king's  patent, 
and  I  have  as  yet  made  no  use  of  it,  though  three  years  have 
nearly  elapsed  since  I  received  it.  I  wished  to  consult  you ; 
but  when  I  understood  that  you  would  not  return  to  Europe,  I 
consulted  Mr.  Short  and  Mr.  G.  Morris,  who  both  gave  me 
their  opinion,  that  I  may  with  propriety  accept  the  advantage 
offered.  I  have  in  consequence  determined  to  draw  for  the 
sum  due,  and  I  think  you  will  not  disapprove  of  this  step,  as  it 
can  by  no  means  weaken  the  claim  of  the  United  States,  but 
rather  the  contrary." 

He  informed  Mr.  Jefferson  also,  that  he  had  not  yet  been 
presented  at  court,  but  would  shortly  be  so,  by  the  Marquis  de 
la  Fayette  ;  spoke  of  transmitting  one  of  his  busts  for  the  state 
of  North  Carolina,  which  had  been  requested  by  a  member  of 
Congress  ;  and  which  was  to  be  decorated  with  the  order  of  St. 
Anne,  on  the  American  uniform,  if  he  should  be  authorized  by 
the  United  States  to  wear  that  order,  which  authorization  he 
solicited  Mr.  Jefferson  to  obtain  for  him  ;  and  adverted  to  the 
condition  of  the  American  prisoners  at  Algiers,  with  whose  situ- 
ation, he  said,  "  I  continue  to  be. deeply  affected  ;  the  more  so, 
as  I  learn  from  the  pirate  now  here,  who  took  the  greatest  part 
of  th^m,  that  if  they  are  not  very  soon  redeemed,  they  will  be 


528  PAUL   JONES. 

treated  with  no  more  lenity  than  is  shown  to  other  slaves.     He 
told  this  to  Mr.  Littlepage,  who  repeated  it  to  me." 

The  letter  from  Mr.  Littlepage,  which  accompanied  that  cited 
from,  and  which  is  referred  to  in  it,  was  as  follows  : 

"  You  will  share  my  regret  in  reflecting,  that  we  were  the 
principal  means  of  engaging  Admiral  Sir  John  Paul  Jones  to 
accept  the  propositions  made  to  him  in  1788  by  the  Russian 
court.  Never  were  more  brilliant  prospects  held  forth  to  an 
individual,  and  never  individual  better  calculated  to  attain  them. 
The  campaign  upon  the  Liman  of  1788,  added  lustre  to  the 
arms  of  Russia,  and  ought  to  have  established  for  ever  the  repu- 
tation and  fortune  of  the  gallant  officer  to  whose  conduct  those 
successes  were  owing  ;  but  unfortunately,  in  Russia,  more  per- 
haps than  elsewhere,  every  thing  is  governed  by  intrigue.  Some 
political  motives,  I  have  reason  to  think,  concurred  in  depriving 
Admiral  Paul  Jones  of  the  fruits  of  his  services  ;  he  was  thought 
to  be  particularly  obnoxious  to  the  English  nation,  and  the  idea 
of  paying  a  servile  compliment  to  a  power  whose  enmity  occa- 
sions all  the  present  embarrassments  of  Russia,  induced  some 
leading  persons  to  ruin  him  in  the  opinion  of  the  empress  by  an 
accusation  too  ridiculous  to  be  mentioned. 

"  It  would  be  needless  to  enter  into  details :  you  have  too 
much  confidence  in  Admiral  Paul  Jones  to  doubt  the  veracity 
of  what  he  will  personally  communicate  to  you,  and  to  which 
I  refer  you." 

In  June  of  this  year,  as  appears  by  the  draft  of  a  letter  which 
ia  preserved,  though  without  particular  date  or  direction,  the 
rear  admiral,  in  addition  to  his  ill  state  of  body,  and  to  the 
irritating  state  of  inaction  into  which  he  was  thrown,  was 
really  vexed  by  the  delay  he  experienced  in  receiving  the  funds, 
belonging  to  his  private  exchequer,  which  he  had  a  right  to 
look  for. 

The  last  letter  preserved,  in  which  he  indicates  a  wish  to 
cling  to  his  Russian  engagements,  is  one  to  the  Baron  de 
Grimm,  who  was  then  at  Bourbon  le  Bair,  and  which  is  dated 
July  9th.  It  was  as  follows : 


PAUL   JONES.  529 

"  Sift—  M.  Houdon  has  sent  to  your  house  the  bust  which  you 
have  done  me  the  honour  to  accept.  Mademoiselle  Marchais 
has  informed  me  of  all  the  obliging  things  you  have  said  regard- 
ing my  affairs.  She  has  just  told  me,  that  the  answer  of  the 
empress  awaits  you  at  Frankfort.  As  it  Is  my  duty  to  interest 
myself  in  objects  that  may  be  useful  to  Russia,  I  must  inform 
you  that  I  have  met  with  a  man  here,  whom  I  have  known  for 
fifteen  years,  who  has  invented  a  new  construction  of  ships  of 
war,  which  has  small  resemblance,  either  externally  or  inter- 
nally, to  our  present  war-ships,  and  which  will,  he  says,  possess 
the  following  advantages  over  them  : 

"I.  The  crew  will  be  better  sheltered  during  an  engage- 
ment. 

"  II.  The  accommodations  of  the  crew  will  be  more  spacious; 
every  individual  may  have  a  bed  or  a  hammock,  and  there  may 
be  as  much  air  as  is  wished  for,  night  and  ilay,  in  the  places  for 
sleeping. 

"  III.  There  will  be  less  smoke  during  an  engagement. 

"  IV.  A  ship  of  the  new  construction,  of  54  guns,  if  well 
armed  and  commanded,  may  face  one  of  the  old  make  of  80  or 
90,  and  need  not  run  away  from  one  of  an  hundred. 

"  V.  That  besides  requiring  less  artillery,  the  new  vessels 
would  cost  less  in  their  construction  ;  and  different  sorts  of  wood, 
both  dear  and  rare,  required  for  the  old  vessels,  might  be  dis- 
pensed with. 

"  VI.  A  new  ship,  displaying  to  the  eye  all  the  majesty  of  her 
appointments,  would  have  a  more  imposing  appearance  of 
power  than  another  ;  and  would  never  be  forced  into  an  engage- 
ment, without  stupid  imprudence  on  the  part  of  her  com- 
mander. 

"  VII.  Vessels  of  the  new  construction,  would  add  to  many 
other  advantages,  that  of  greater  facility  in  navigation,  by  sail- 
ing a  quarter,  or  11  degrees  and  15  minutes,  nearer  the  wind 
than  the  old  ones,  and  swerving  less  from  the  course. 

"  It  is  a  long  time  since;  in  conjunction  with  my  friend 
Dr  Franklir,  I  tried  to  devise  the  construction  of  a  ship 

66 


530  PAUL   JONES. 

which  could  be  navigated  without  ballast,  be  ready  for  action  at 
any  time,  draw  less  water,  and  at  the  same  time  drive  little  or 
not  at  all  to  leeward.  We  always  encountered  great  obstacles. 
Since  the  death  of  that  great  philosopher,  having  too  much 
time  on  my  hands,  I  think  I  have  surmounted  the  difficulties 
which  baffled  our  researches.  The  ship-builder  of  whom  I  have 
spoken,  has  explained  nothing  to  me  in  detail,  and  is  altogether 
ignorant  of  my  ideas  on  the  subject.  Being  old,  he  wishes  to 
preserve  his  invention,  and  to  derive  an  annuity  from  it.  No- 
thing can  be  more  just,  if  on  experiment  his  discovery  holds ; 
and  as  it  is  a  thing  which  appears  to  me  to  deserve  the  atten 
tion  of  the  empress,  I  beg  of  you  to  acquaint  her  majesty  of  it 
as  soon  as  possible.  This  person  wished  to  go  to  England  u 
offer  his  discovery,  where  I  think  it  would  have  been  received  ; 
but,  as  I  have  some  influence  with  him,  I  have  persuaded  him 
to  remain  here,  and  wait  your  reply.  If  he  receive  any  encou- 
ragement, he  will  communicate  his  ideas  more  fully  to  me.  But 
in  every  case  I  would  dedicate  to  the  empress,  without  any  sti- 
pulation, all  that  my  feeble  genius  has  accomplished  in  naval 
architecture.  I  believe  I  have  found  out  the  secret  of  mounting 
on  a  ship  of  war,  with  the  qualifications  I  have  mentioned  above, 
five  batteries  of  whatever  calibre  is  desired.  Will  not  this, 
presuming  it  correct,  be  of  great  advantage  to  the  infant  ma- 
rine of  the  Black  Sea,  and  consequently  to  the,  prosperity  of  the 
Russian  empire  ?" 

The  empress  did  reply  to  Grimm's  letter,  communicating  the 
rear  admiral's  suggestions ;  she  mentioned  that  there  was 
a  prospect  of  peace,  and  intimated  that  if  she  should  have  oc- 
casion for  the  services  of  Jones,  she  would  communicate  directly 
with  him,  without  the  necessity  of  the  baron's  intervention. 

There  is  among  the  loose  papers  preserved,  a  letter  of  the 
16th  September,  of  this  year,  from  a  chevalier  whose  patrony- 
mic baffles  curiosity,  as  his  hand-writing  was  fine  beyond  con- 
ception. He  informs  the  rear  admiral,  that  in  a  conversation 
he  had  had  with  Admiral  Digby  on  the  day  previous,  that  offi- 


PAUL   JONES.  531 

cer  had  expressed  an  anxious  desire  to  become  acquainted  with 
him,  and  presses  Jones  to  allow  him  to  introduce  him,  at  as  early 
a  day  as  possible,  to  the  admiral's  amiable  family.  This  is 
mentioned  as  not  unimportant  in  proving,  that  brave  and  en- 
lightened Englishmen  were  not  imbued  with  the  vulgar  preju- 
dices which  seem  to  have  prevailed  in  their  country  in  relation 
to  this  adopted  son  of  America.  Indeed,  there  are  several  others 
which  refute  such  a  supposition,  that  have  not  been  mentioned  ; 
among  which  are  two  from  the  Earl  of  Wemys,  written  in  1785, 
dated  at  his  residence,  the  "Chateau  de  Cotandar,"  near  Neuf- 
chatel,  which  refer  to  communications  the  earl  had  had  with 
the  Prince  of  Wirtemburgh,  on  subjects  in  which  Jones  was 
interested.  He  addresses  him  as  "  my  dear  commodore,"  and 
Jones  in  his  replies  calls  him  "  my  dear  lord  Wemys."  These 
letters,  with  several  others,  have  been  omitted,  because  they 
needed  explanations  which  the  editor  could  not  furnish. 

In  November,  he  wrote  Mr.  Littlepage,  who  was  then  at 
Warsaw,  congratulating  him  on  the  (abortive)  revolution  of  Po- 
land, and  transmitting  a  pamphlet  published  by  the  friend  of  his, 
whose  schemes  he  had  mentioned  to  Baron  Grimm,  which 
Jones  wished  to  present  to  his  Polish  majesty.  He  mentions 
that  Bancroft  had  paid  him  half  the  amount  for  which  he  was 
a  creditor,  and  adds  :  "  Before  the  month  of  May,  I  expect  also 
to  receive  a  considerable  amount  from  other  sources  in  Europe ; 
and,  in  America  I  have  sundry  tracts  of  land,  and  funds  both  in 
the  bank,  and  in  the  public  stocks ;  so  that,  if  I  return  to  that 
country,  I  shall  have  the  means  of  living  independent,  in  a 
handsome  style.  I  mention  the  above  circumstances  on  account 
of  the  kind  interest  you  take  in  all  my  concerns." 

The  last  letter  written  this  year,  which  will  be  inserted,  was 
addressed  to  the  Marquis  de  la  Fayette,  and  dated  December 
7th.  It  shows  that  in  the  approach  of  the  impending  storm, 
his  feelings  towards  the  king  were  still  benevolent. 

"  DEAR  GENERAL — My  ill  health  for  some  time  past,  has  pre- 
vented me  from  the  pleasure  of  paying  you  my  personal  re- 


532  PAUL   JONES. 

spects,  but  I  hope  shortly  to  indulge  myself  with  that  satisfac 
tion. 

"  I  hope  you  approve  the  quality  of  the  fur-linings  I  brought 
from  Russia  for  the  king  and  yourself.  I  flatter  myself  that  his 
majesty  will  accept  from  your  hand  that  little  mark  of  the  sin- 
cere attachment  I  feel  for  his  person  ;  and  be  assured,  that  I 
shall  be  always  ready  to  draw  the  sword  with  which  he  honoured 
me  for  the  service  of  the  virtuous  and  illustrious  '  PROTECTOR 

OF  THE  RIGHTS  OF  HUMAN  NATURE.' 

"  When  my  health  shall  be  re-established,  M.  Simolin  will 
do  me  the  honour  to  present  me  to  his  majesty  as  a  Russian  ad- 
miral. Afterwards  it  will  be  my  duty,  as  an  American  officer, 
to  wait  on  his  majesty  with  the  letter  which  I  am  directed  to 
to  present  to  him  from  the  United  States." 

It  is  to  be  presumed  that  sickness  prevented  Jones  from  taking 
any  active  part  in  the  discussions  and  movements  which  were 
fast  hurrying  France  into  her  long  agony.  The  last  letters  of 
his  which  will  be  cited,  betray  a  morbid  and  querulous  irasci- 
bility, which  indicate  that  a  diseased  frame  had  affected  a  gal- 
lant but  impatient  spirit.  Still  they  are  characteristic.  The 
following  letter  from  the  minister  of  marine  was  in  reply  to  one 
from  the  rear  admiral,  demanding  the  arrearages  of  pay  due 
to  the  crew  of  the  Bon  Homme  Richard.  His  own  personal 
claim  on  the  French  government  amounted  to  7,000  livres. 

From  the  Minister  of  Marine,  to  M.  the  Admiral  Paul  Jones. 

"  Paris,  February  21,  1792. 

"  I  have,  Sir,  had  the  accounts  examined,  relating  to  the  re- 
clamation you  have  made  of  wages  remaining  due  to  the  crew 
of  the  ship  '  Le  Bon  Homme  Richard.'  I  find  that  in  the  year 
1784,  you  presented  that  reclamation  to  the  Marechal  de  Cas- 
tries ;  upon  which  that  minister  refused  to  pay  you  the  amount 
of  those  wages,  and  intimated  to  you  that  he  would  direct  the 
American  seamen  to  be  paid  by  the  French  consuls,  resident  in 
the  United  States,  and  would  settle  at  Paris  or  in  the  ports, 


PAUL   JONES.  533 

with  the  French  and  foreign  seamen,  according  to  the  amount 
of  their  demands.  I  find  also  that  you  were  not  contented  with 
this  decision,  and  solicited  again  the  delivery  into  your  own 
hands  of  the  amount  of  those  wages,  offering  M.  Grand  as  se- 
curity :  that  upon  this,  M.  de  Castries  required  two  separate  ac- 
counts to  be  made  ;  one,  of  the  wages  due  to  American,  English, 
Irish,  and  Scottish  seamen ;  and  the  other,  of  those  due  to  Portu- 
guese, French,  and  others  ;  and  these  accounts  amounted,  the 
first  to  25,338,  3,  1  livres ;  the  second  to  5,115,  6,  9  livres  ; 
and  that  these  being  submitted  to  the  consideration  of  the  min- 
ister, he  approved  of  allowing  to  you  15,000  livres,  to  face  the 
demands  of  the  American  seamen,  on  condition  that  M.  Grand 
would  be  responsible  for  its  payment.  I  have  the  honour,  Sir, 
of  observing  to  you,  that  it  is  the  settled  custom  to  pay  to  sea- 
men the  balance  of  wages  accruing  to  them,  on  discharging  the 
vessel ;  that  as  well  on  this  account,  as  because  the  crew  of  the 
Bon  Homme  Richard  was  composed  of  seamen  of  different  na- 
tions, of  whose  residence  even  you  yourself  were  ignorant,  M. 
de  Castries  having  refused  to  settle  with  you  the  wages  due  to 
the  crew,  and  consented  only  to  pay  15,000  livres,  to  face  the 
demands  of  the  American  seamen,  on  the  guarantee  of  M. 
Grand  to  be  responsible  for  its  disbursement,  it  is  proper  you 
should  explain  how  that  disbursement  was  made.  And  it  is 
also  proper,  Sir,  before  making  to  you  another  payment,  that 
you  should  give  me  a  statement  in  detail  of  the  sums  you  paid, 
over  and  above  the  15,000  livres,  which  you  received  in  1784, 
with  the  vouchers ;  as  you  can  only  be  indemnified  for  what  you 
may  have  advanced  of  your  own  funds,  the  wages  in  question 
not  being  payable  to  yourself  personally  and  directly. 

"  DE  BERTRAND." 

The  following  is  a  translation  from  the  draft  of  an  angry 
reply  to  this  certainly  too  uncourteous  and  business-like  epis- 
tle. It  was  not  sent  to  the  minister,  as  the  tide  of  popular 
feeling  ran  high  against  the  court,  and  he  was  compelled  or  saw 
fit  to  retire  from  office,  on  the  17th  March. 


534  PAUL   JONES. 

"  Paris,  March  14, 1792. 

"  SIR — Sickness  has  prevented  me  from  replying  sooner  to 
the  letter  you  caused  to  be  sent  to  me,  relative  to  the  reclama- 
tion I  made  at  the  commencement  of  your  administration,  of 
the  pay  due  by  your  government  to  a  portion  of  the  crew  of  the 
frigate  Bon  Homme  Richard.  Instead  of  complying  with  my 
just  demand,  after  so  long,  and,  as  it  seems  to  me,  so  unneces- 
sary a  delay,  you  allow  yourself  to  cast  reflections  on  my  con- 
duct, in  relation  to  that  affair,  and  seem  to  address  yourself,  in 
writing  to  me,  as  to  an  agent  of  the  Marquis  de  Castries. 

"  I  should  deem  myself  worthy  of  your  reproaches,  were  I 
to  pass  them  over  in  silence. 

"It  is  impossible,  Sir,  that  you,  who  pride  yourself,  in  your 
letters,  on  the  accuracy  and  regularity  of  your  bureau,  and  on 
being  informed  of  the  most  minute  particulars  connected  with 
your  department ;  it  is  impossible,  I  say,  that  you  should  not 
know  who  I  am,  or  the  motives  which  induced  your  court  to 
invite  me,  through  the  ambassador  of  the  United  States,  to  leave 
the  American  frigate  which  I  commanded  at  Brest,  and  repair 
immediately  to  Versailles.  But,  as  you  affect  to  have  no  know- 
ledge whatever  of  the  great  services  which  I  have  rendered  to 
France,  with  means  so  inadequate,  that  I  may  perhaps  say  no 
one  else  ever  undertook  with  the  like,  under  such  discouraging 
circumstances,  enterprises  of  such  moment, — you  will  permit  me 
to  complain,  for  the  first  time,  of  the  not  very  generous,  and 
even  unjust  treatment,  which  I  have  received  in  return,  from 
two  of  your  predecessors.  While  M.  de  Sartine  was  keeping 
me  the  first  time,  at  court,  the  frigate  I  commanded  set  sail 
from  Brest  and  returned  to  America.  I  lost  all  my  crew,  who 
were  inveigled  by  the  sailors,  who  falsely  represented,  during 
my  absence,  that  the  minister  had  prohibited  the  sale  of  their 
prizes.  M.  de  Sartine  amused  me  afterwards  for  a  year  ;  and 
when  I  threatened  to  complain  to  the  king  and  to  the  public  of  the 
manner  in  which  I  had  been  treated,  he  gave  me  orders  to  com- 
mand a  naval  force,  badly  equipped  in  all  respects ;  and  in- 
trusted his  own  armament  to  a  person  so  indiscreet,  and  such 


PAUL  JONES,  535 

an  cgoiste,  that  I  should  have  refused  the  command  with  con- 
tempt, if  I  had  not  previously  announced  to  Congress  the  flat- 
tering manner,  in  which,  contrary  to  my  intention,  I  had  been 
invited  by  the  court  of  France  to  remain  in  Europe.  That 
minister  having  sent  me,  under  different  pretexts  and  after 
various  shifts,  to  all  the  French  ports  on  the  ocean,  and  to  di- 
vers cannon  foundries,  saw  fit  to  pay  me  a  sum  of  money,  to 
indemnify  me  for  the  expenses  of  my  voyage,  before  giving  me 
a  military  employment.  This  was  done  of  his  own  accord,  as 
I  never  demanded  a  farthing  from  him,  in  the  shape  of  reward 
or  indemnity. 

"As  I  could  not  accept  a  commission  in  the  royal  marine  of 
France,  without  appearing  to  desert,  in  some  measure,  the  Ame- 
rican cause,  the  minister  consented  that  the  force  commanded 
by  me  should  carry  the  flag,  and  be  governed  by  the  laws  and 
commission  of  the  United  States.  All  the  recompense  I  ask- 
ed, and  this  was  solemnly  granted  me,  was,  that  my  prisoners 
should  be  exchanged  for  unfortunate  Americans,  taken  at  sea, 
and  detained,  by  act  of  parliament,  in  English  dungeons,  as 
pirates. 

"Without  entering  into  an  exact  detail  of  my  perilous  opera- 
tions, let  us  see  how  I  was  rewarded  by  the  minister  on  my  re- 
turn from  the  Texel  and  from  Spain,  to  the  French  ports. 
Those  who  remained  of  the  Bon  Horn  me  Richard's  crew,  my 
officers  and  myself,  had  lost  all  our  effects  when  that  rotten  old 
vessel  went  down,  after  a  conflict  unexampled  in  history  ;  for 
she  was  not,  as  you  seem  to  think,  a  ship  of  the  line,  but  a  bad 
sailer,  fifteen  years  old,  built  for  the  merchant  service,  and  badly 
armed  with  thirty-four  twelve  pounders.  No  one  can  run  such 
risks  as  I  did,  for  three  consecutive  months,  in  the  Texel,  blocka- 
ded inside  by  a  Dutch  fleet,  and  outside  by  several  English 
squadrons,  while  a  price  was  set  on  my  head,  and  I  was  ex- 
posed to  the  treachery  of  individuals  and  the  cupidity  of  ava- 
rice. 

"  My  fortitude  and  self-denial  alone  dragged  Holland  into  the 
war  a  service  of  the  greatest  importance  to  this  nation  ;  for 


536  PAUL    JONES. 

without  that  great  event,  no  calculation  can  ascertain  when  the 
war  would  have  ended. 

"  Would  you  suppose,  Sir,  that  my  prisoners,  600  in  number, 
were  treacherously  taken  out  of  my  hands  in  the  Texel,  with 
two  of  my  prizes,  a  new  ship  of  war,  pierced  for  56  guns,  and  a 
frigate  of  24  guns  in  one  battery  ?  Would  you  suppose,  that  I  was 
driven  out  of  the  Texel  in  a  single  frigate  belonging  to  the  United 
States,  in  the  face  of  forty-two  English  ships,  and  vessels  posted 
to  cut  off  my  retreat  ?  My  prisoners  were  disposed  of  without 
my  consent,  and  contrary  to  my  intention.  My  prizes  were  all 
taken  possession  of,  and  some  of  them,  particularly  the  ship  of 
56  guns,  degraded  and  cut  to  pieces  before  my  eyes,  and  in  con- 
tempt of  my  authority,  though  that  ship,  by  the  laws  of  the 
American  flag,  was  the  exclusive  property  of  the  captors. 

"  You  take  me,  Sir,  to  be  a  school-boy,  when  you  say  :  '  J'ai 
rhonneur  de  vous  observer,  monsieur,  qtfil  est  toujours  cTusage  de 
payer  directement  aux  marins  le  decompte  des  salaires  qui  leur  re- 
viennent  au  desarmement  de  bdtimens.'  I  could  not  have  sup- 
posed, Sir,  that  you  had  thought  me  so  ignorant  as  to  need  that 
information  seventeen  years  after  I  was  first  honoured  with  the 
rank  of  captain  in  the  navy.  Had  this  rule  been  followed  in 
regard  to  the  crew  of  the  Bon  Homme  Richard,  in  pursuance 
of  my  reclamation  at  the  time,  I  should  never  have  said  a  word 
to  you  on  that  subject,  much  less  on  what  personally  regards 
myself. 

"  Though  my  crews  were  almost  naked,  and  had  no  money 
to  purchase  necessaries,  yet  my  constant  application  to  court 
for  two  months  produced  no  relief,  no  payment  whatever,  either 
for  salary  or  pi'ize-money.  I  was  on  the  point  of  sailing  back 
to  America,  without  any  hope  of  obtaining  justice ;  without  the 
least  acknowledgment,  direct  or  indirect,  that  the  court  was 
satisfied  with  my  services  ;  when,  in  a  moment  of  despair,  I 
came  to  court  to  demand  satisfaction. 

"  The  minister  of  the  United  States  accompanied  me  to  M. 
Sartine,  who  gave  us  a  reception  as  cold  as  ice,  did  not  say  to 
me  a  single  word,  nor  ask  me  if  my  health  had  not  suffered  from 


PAUL   JONES.  537 

my  wounds  and  the  uncommon  fatigue  I  had  undergone.*  The 
public  did  me  more  justice  than  the  minister  ;  and  I  owe  to  the 
king  alone  the  flattering  marks  of  distinction  with  which  I  was 
honoured, — a  gold  sword,  and  the  order  of  military  merit. 

"  But  I  solicited  in  vain  for  wages  and  prize-money,  due  to 
my  crew ;  and  the  minister  of  marine  detained  me  so  long,  that 
the  seamen  of  the  American  frigate  I  had  left  at  L'Orient,  de- 
spairing to  obtain  redress,  revolted,  and  carried  that  frigate 
back  to  America. 

"  With  the  remainder  of  the  crew  of  the  Bon  Homme  Richard, 
as  prisoners,  on  account  of  their  personal  attachment  to  me, 
on  this  occasion  again,  I  lost  all  my  effects,  without  receiving 
any  indemnity. 

"  The  crew  of  this  frigate,  and  that  of  the  Bon  Homme  Ri- 
chard, were  paid  on  their  arrival  in  America,  according  to  the 
rolls  which  I  had  presented  to  the  Marechal  de  Castries.  Un- 
der what  pretext  of  justice,  then,  could  that  minister  take  't 
upon  himself,  according  to  your  suggestions,  to  mutilate  and 
divide  that  roll  ?  But  the«shuffling  (chicane)  of  a  man  who  can 
forfeit  his  word  of  honour,  solemnly  pledged ;  who,  to  hide  his 
disgrace,  dares  use  the  name  of  his  sovereign  for  protection, 
who,  a  hundred  to  one,  never  knew  a  word  of  the  affair  to 
which  I  allude ;  the  pitiful  evasions  of  such  a  man,  cannot  sur- 
prise one  who  has  for  many  years  been  accustomed  to  the  base 
ness  and  duplicity  of  some  who  are  attached  to  courts. 

"  Have  any  of  the  sailors  in  question,  during  twelve  years, 
demanded  their  wages  in  France  ?  No !  and  the  reason  is 
simple  enough ;  because  they  were  paid  by  my  orders  on  their 
arrival  in  America. 

"  You  enumerate  to  me  six  nations,  and  others,  on  the  roll. 
Is  it  necessary  to  tell  a  man  as  well  informed  as  yourself,  that 
the  citizens  of  the  United  States,  sailors  as  well  as  those  of 


*  A  fragment  has  been  referred  to  containing  this  portion  of  the  letter  cited,  in  a 
previous  page  of  this  work.  The  whole  draft  of  the  letter  came  subsequently  into 
the  editor's  hands. 

67 


538  PAUL   JONES. 

other  vocations,  belong  to  different  European  nations,  whose 
subjects  obtain  certain  rights  and  privileges,  the  moment  they 
set  foot  on  free  ground  ?  The  anxiety  you  seem  to  feel  for  the 
imagined  foreign  seamen  is^  therefore,  superfluous. 

"  The  king  having  intrusted  nie  with  a  small  frigate,  I  re- 
turned to  America,  and  an  agent  was  authorized  to  demand 
satisfaction  for  prize-money,  &c. 

"  I  continued  to  render  good  and  faithful  services  to  France, 
until  the  end  of  the  war  ;  and,  by  express  orders  of  the  United 
States,  made  the  last  campaign  in  the  fleet  of  M.  de  Vandreuil, 
which  was  destined  to  execute  an  enterprise  against  Jamaica ; 
an  island  about  which  I  knew  more  than  any  other  sea-officer 

of  the  squadron. 

"  On  the  conclusion  of  peace,  as  the  United  States'  agent  had 

not  been  able,  after  three  years'  solicitation,  to  obtain  any  satis- 
faction from  the  court  of  France,  Congress  engaged  me  to 
accept  a  special  commission,  and  to  return  to  Europe,  in  order 
to  finish  this  business.  You  thus  perceive,  Sir.  that  I  was  clothed 
with  a  character,  rather  more  respectable  than  that  of  agent  of 
the  Marquis  de  Castries ;  and  I  presume  you  will  confess,  that 
it  was  indecent  in  the  minister  to  demand  from  me  as  surety, 
a  banker,  or  any  other  person,  in  a  matter  in  which  I  acted  in 
the  name  of  my  sovereign,  to  whom  alone  I  could  be  respon- 
sible. 

"  It  is  hard  for  me  to  conceive  how  I  could  have  adopted  the 
course  of  employing  M.  Grand  to  write  to  M.  de  Castries,  in 
relation  to  the  salaries  of  sailors  on  the  roll  in  question.  I  did 
wrong,  certainly.  I  compromised  the  honour  of  my  mission. 
But  the  marechal  only  asked  for  security  to  insure  himself 
against  any  claims  which  might  be  made  by  individuals  after 
the  termination  of  the  business. 

"  It  is  true,  the  Marquis  de  Castries  pretended  for  a  long 
time  that  I  should  give  him  security  for  the  prize-money ;  but  I 
at  last  made  him  recede  from  the  absurdity  of  that  demand.  I 
was  detained  in  Europe  four  years;  and  having  in  that  time 
nnent  sixty  thousand  livres  of  my  own  money,  I  received  for  my 


PAUL   JONES.  539 

share  of  all  the  prizes,  as  commander  of  the  Bon  Homme-,  thir- 
teen thousand  livres ! 

"  This  seems  extraordinary,  and  demands  explanation.  It 
will  probably  suffice  to  say,  that  I  had  only  obtained,  by  the 
final  liquidation,  a  seventh  of  the  price  which  the  ship  of  war 
cost  the  British  government  before  the  capture ;  and  that  the 
merchantmen  were  paid  for  in  nearly  the  same  way.  I  have 
yet  to  learn,  by  what  rule,  and  under  what  pretext  of  justice, 
the  government  interfered  in  this  matter,  retarded  the  settle- 
ment so  long,  and  finally,  arbitrarily  determined  on  the  rights 
of  the  captors,  in  a  manner  so  incompatible  with  the  character 
of  a  great  and  generous  nation,  and  so  contrary  to  the  laws  of 
the  American  flag.  I  knew  an  officer  who  lost  a  frigate  less 
honourably  than  I  lost  the  Bon  Homme  Richard,  and  I  have 
heard  it  stated  that  he  received  fifty  thousand  livres  as  a  grati- 
fication. I  have  received  nothing,  though  I  have  thrice  lost  all 
my  effects  in  the  service.  I  have  never  been  reimbursed  for 
the  expenses  of  my  table,  as  commander,  and  you  may  see  by 
the  rolls  in  your  bureaux,  that  my  name  is  in  blank,  and  that  I 
have  also  received  no  salary. 

"  But  what  affects  me  most  sensibly  is,  that  my  officers  and 
crew  on  board  of  the  Bon  Homme  Richard,  did  not  receive  any 
gratification,  and  were  treated  in  all  respects  in  a  manner  un- 
worthy of  the  essential  services  they  rendered.  I  except  three 
subjects  of  France,  who  served  with  me  at  the  same  time,  and 
who  have  rewards  and  a  pension. 

"  Permit  me  to  compare  this  treatment  with  that  the  French 
officers  received  who  served  in  the  American  army.  The  war 
had  been  carried  on  for  several  years  by  the  Americans  alone  ; 
and  there  is  no  instance  where  the  United  States  invited  a 
French  officer  to  enter  into  their  service.  Such  as  presented 
themselves  and  were  accepted,  have  all  of  them  bettered  their 
situation  by  that  connexion.  At  the  end  of  the  war,  they  re- 
ceived a  gratification  of  five  years'  pay,  the  order  of  Cincinnatus, 
and  a  lot  of  land  ;  and  they  enjoy  grades  superior  to  what  they 
could  have  attained  under  other  circumstances.  If  we  except 


540  PAUL   JONES. 

the  Marquis  de  la  Fayette,  they  were  all  poor  when  they  went 
to  America.  They  are  all  now  in  ea.°y  circumstances ;  and 
have,  ever  since  the  peace,  received  six  per  cent,  on  their  funds 
in  America.  In  short,  they  have  been  treated  much  better  than 
the  Americans  themselves,  who  served  from  the  beginning  to 
the  end  of  the  revolution. 

"  I  pray  you,  Sir,  to  lay  this  letter  before  the  king.  It  con- 
tains many  things  out  of  the  general  rule  of  delicacy  which 
marks  my  proceedings,  and  which,  on  any  other  occasion  less 
affecting  to  my  sensibility,  would  never  have  escaped  from  my 
tongue  or  pen. 

"  His  majesty  has  in  his  hands  an  account  of  my  campaigns, 
supported  by  proofs.  I  shall  have  the  honour  of  presenting  my- 
self at  court,  with  a  letter  which  the  United  States  have  in- 
trusted me  with,  to  be  personally  delivered  to  their  great  and 
good  ally.  As  I  have  hitherto  been  the  dupe  and  victim  of  my 
modesty,  and  especially  as  you  appear  to  make  no  account  of 
my  services  and  sacrifices,  I  am  persuaded  I  shall  gain  much 
by  increasing  the  number  of  my  judges.  I  flatter  myself,  how- 
ever, that  your  justice  will  spare  me  the  repugnance  I  should 
feel  in  taking  such  measures,  though  I  know  that  public  opinion 
would  be  favourable  to  me." 

M.  Bertrand  de  Moleville  having  been  succeeded  in  his  office 
by  M.  de  la  Coste,  Jones  re-opened  his  negotiations,  or  intended 
to  have  done  so,  immediately.  The  letter  is  dated  in  the  same 
month,  (March,)  but  the  day  of  the  month  is  not  inserted.  It 
is  probably  the  last  letter  of  the  kind  that  he  wrote. 

Rear  Admiral  Paul  Jones  to  the  Minister  of  the  French  Marine. 

"  Paris,  March,  1792. 

"  SlR — In  the  beginning  of  the  administration  of  your  prede- 
cessor, I  informed  him,  that  this  government,  not  having  paid 
the  salary  due  to  a  part  of  the  crew  of  the  Bon  Horn  me  Ri- 
chard at  the  time  when  they  were  discharged  from  the  service, 
they  had  been  paid  on  their  arrival  at  Boston  ;  and  having  my 


PAUL   JONES.  541 

self  been  sent  back  here  after  the  war,  under  a  special  commis- 
sion from  the  United*  States,  to  settle  the  claims  of  my  crews,  I 
presented  a  memorial,  reclaiming  that  part  of  the  salary  that 
had  never  been  reimbursed.  The  minister  held  me  in  suspense 
for  about  five  months,  and  then  to  my  great  surprise,  instead 
of  satisfying  my  just  demand,  he  addressed  me  in  a  very  unci- 
vil letter,  treating  mo, 'as  I  conceive,  like  a  schoolboy,  and  per- 
mitting himself  to  cast  unjust  and  uncivil  reflections  on  my  past 
conduct.  My  health  did  not  permit  me  to  answer  immediately ; 
but  I  had  prepared  a  letter,  and  was  just  going  to  send  it,  when 
I  learned  that  he  had  resigned  his  place  as  the  minister  of  the 
marine,  and  that  you  were  named  as  his  successor. 

"  I  request  the  favour,  Sir,  that  you  may  read  this  letter  and 
my  answer ;  after  which  I  persuade  myself  you  will  do  justice 
to  my  first  demand,  which  is  merely  official.  As  to  my  personal 
pretensions,  I  never  should  have  set  up  a  claim  on  that  score 
under  circumstances  less  affecting  to  my  sensibility.  Of  this  I 
need  offer  no  other  proof  than  my  silence  in  that  respect  for 
twelve  years  past.  My  losses  and  unavoidable  expenses  dur- 
ing my  long  connexion  with  this  nation,  amount  to  a  large  sum, 
and  have  greatly  lessened  my  fortune.  I  have  given  solemn 
proofs  of  my  great  attachment  towards  France,  and  that  at- 
tachment still  remains  undiminished.  I  persuade  myself  that  I 
may  with  full  assurance  repose  my  interests  through  your  mi- 
nistry on  the  national  justice.  I  have  the  honour  to  be,"  &c. 

From  this  time  the  symptoms  of  Jones  rapidly  grew  alarm- 
ing and  unequivocal.  He  was  seized  with  jaundice,  to  which 
dropsy  succeeded,  and  he  died  on  the  18th  July.  The  following 
letters  of  M.  Beaupoil  and  Colonel  Blackden  to  the  sisters  of 
the  rear  admiral,  furnish  the  best  account  of  his  last  moments, 
and  the  manner  of  his  death. 

"  Letter  of  M.  Beaupoil  to  either  Mrs.  Taylor  or  Mr*.  London, 
sisters  of  Paul  Jones,  Esq.  Admiral  in  the  Russian  service. 
"  MADAM — I  am  sorry  to  acquaint  you  that  your  brother, 

4dmiral  Paul  Jones,  my  friend,  paid  yesterday  the  debt  we  all 


542  PAUL   JONES. 

owe  to  nature.  He  has  made  a  will,  which  is  deposited  in  the 
hands  of  Mr.  Badinier,  notary,  St.  Servin*  street,  Paris.  The 
will  was  drawn  in  English,  by  Mr.  Governor  Morris,  minister 
of  the  UNITED  STATES,  and  translated  faithfully  by  the  French 
notary  aforesaid.  The  admiral  leaves  his  property,  real  and 
personal,  to  his  two  sisters  and  their  children.  They  are  named 
in  the  will  as  being  married,  one  to  William  Taylor,  and  the 

other  to Loudon,  of  Dumfries.     The  executor  is  Mr. 

Robert  Morris,  of  Philadelphia.  If  I  could  be  of  any  service  to 
you  in  this  business,  out  of  the  friendship  I  bore  your  brother, 
I  would  do  it  with  pleasure.  I  am  a  Frenchman  and  an  officer. 
I  am  sincerely  yours, 

"  BEAUPOIL. 

•  Paris,  July  19,  1792,  No.  7,  H6tel  Anglais, 
Passage  des  Petits  Peres." 

"  The  English  will  is  signed  by  Colonels  Swan,  Blackden, 
and  myself.  The  schedule  of  his  property  lying  in  Denmark, 
Russia,  France,  America,  and  elsewhere,  is  signed  by  Mr.  Mor- 
ris, and  deposited  by  me  in  his  bureau,  with  the  original  will. 
Every  thing  is  sealed  up  at  his  lodgings,  Tournon  street,  No. 
42,  Paris. 

"You  may  depend  also  on  the  good  services  of  Colonel  Black- 
den,  who  was  an  intimate  friend  of  the  admiral's.  That  gen- 
tleman is  setting  out  for  London,  where  you  may  hear  of  him 
at  No.  18,  Great  Tichfield  Street,  London." 

"  Colonel  Blackden  to  Mrs.  Taylor,  of  Dumfries,  eldest  sister  of 
Admiral  Paul  Jones. 

'Great  Tichfield  Street,  London,  August  9th. 

"  MADAM — I  had  the  honour  of  receiving  your  letter  of  the 
3d  instant,  and  shall  answer  you  most  readily.  Your  brother, 
Admiral  Jones,  was  not  in  good  health  for  about  a  year,  but 
had  not  been  so  unwell  as  to  keep  house.  For  two  months  past 
he  began  to  lose  his  appetite,  to  grow  yellow,  and  show  signs  of 
the  jaundice;  for  this  he  took  medicine,  and  seemed  to  grow 


PAUL  JONES.  543 

better  ;  but  about  ten  days  before  his  death  his  legs  began  to 
swell,  which  increased  upwards,  so  that  two  days  before  his  exit 
he  could  not  button  his  waistcoat,  and  had  great  difficulty  of 
breathing. 

"  I  visited  him  every  day,  and,  beginning  to  be  apprehensive 
of  his  danger,  desired  him  to  settle  his  affairs  ;  but  this  he  put 
off  till  the  afternoon  of  his  death,  when  he  was  prevailed  on  to 
send  for  a  notaire,  and  made  his  will.  Mr.  Beaupoil  and  myself 
witnessed  it  at  about  8  o'clock  in  the  evening,  and  left  him  sit- 
ting in  a  chair.  A  few  minutes  after  we  retired,  he  walked  into 
his  chamber,  and  laid  himself  upon  his  face,  on  the  bed-side, 
with  his  feet  on  the  floor ;  after  the  queen's  physician  arrived, 
they  went  into  the  room,  and  found  him  in  that  position,  and 
upon  taking  him  up,  they  found  he  had  expired. 

"  His  disorder  had  terminated  in  dropsy  of  the  breast.  His 
body  was  put  into  a  leaden  coffin  on  the  20th,  that  in  case  the 
United  States,  whom  he  had  so  essentially  served,  and  with  so 
much  honour  to  himself,  should  claim  his  remains,  they  might 
be  more  easily  removed.  This  is  all,  Madam,  that  I  can  say 
concerning  his  illness  and  death. 

"  I  most  sincerely  condole  with  you,  Madam,  upon  the  less  of 
my  dear  and  respectable  friend,  for  whom  I  entertained  the 
greatest  affection,  and  as  a  proof  of  it,  you  may  command  the 
utmost  exertion  of  my  feeble  abilities,  which  shall  be  rendered 
with  cheerfulness.  I  have  the  honour  to  be,  Madam,  your  most 
obedient  and  humble  servant, 

"  S.  BLACKDEN." 

»  -   *  '          ;'    SN  '  . 

It  will  be  seen  from  these  letters,  that  though  suffering  se 
verely  from  bodily  affliction,  and  no  doubt  equally  from  mental 
restlessness  and  disquietude,  Jones  did  not  die  without  the  sym- 
pathy and  succour  of  respectable  friends,  nor  in  obscurity  and 
actual  want,  as  has  been  surmised,  and  indeed  stated,  in  some 
notices  of  his  life.  The  credentials  of  his  excellency  Governor 
Morris,  as  minister  plenipotentiary  to  the  court  of  France,  had 
been  ^orwarded  to  him  from  America  in  the  latter  end  of  Janu- 


544  ,         PAUL   JONES. 

ary  preceding,  at  which  time,  it  is  to  be  inferred  from  a  letter  of 
Mr.  Jefferson  to  him,*  he  was  not  in  Paris.  With  him,  there- 
fore, Jones  could  not  have  had  a  long  intercourse ;  but  it  is 
known,  that  though  he  was  not  present  at  the  rear  admiral's 
funeral,  the  ambassador  showed  him  every  attention,  and  it  ap- 
pears from  his  attest  to  a  schedule,  that  he  was  with  him  on  the 
day  before  his  death. 

One  ray  of  brightness  might  have  gilded  the  gloom  which  over- 
hung the  latter  days  of  Jones'  life ;  but  there  is  little  reason  to 
believe  that  he  was  cheered  by  beholding  it.  He  might  have 
learned,  that  the  United  States  had  yet  business  for  him  to  exe- 
cute, in  which  the  feelings  of  our  citizens  were  deeply  enlisted ; 
and  the  management  of  which,  in  the  opinion  of  government, 
required  both  dexterity  and  energy.  It  was  a  business,  too,  in 
relation  to  which  he  had  for  several  years  previous  expressed 
his  ardent  desire  to  be  useful.  But  the  mission  came  too  late. 
On  the  1st  June,  Mr.  Jefferson  wrote  to  him  from  Philadel- 
phia,t  informing  him  that  the  president  had  thought  proper  to 
appoint  him  commissioner  for  treating  with  the  Dey  and  gov- 
ernment of  Algiers,  on  the  subjects  of  peace  and  ransom  of 
American  captives,  remaining  in  the  power  of  that  regency. 
A  knowledge  of  the  appointment  was  to  rest  with  the  president, 
Mr.  Pinckney,  who  had  just  been  appointed  minister  to  Eng- 
land, and  Mr.  Jefferson.  The  secret  instructions  given  in  the 
letter  are  of  much  interest.  If  testimony  were  wanting  of  the 
confidence  reposed  by  the  secretary  of  state  in  the  shrewdness, 
discretion,  and  energy  of  Jones,  his  being  employed  in  this  trust 
would  sufficiently  supply  it. 

The  national  assembly  paid  his  memory  the  honour  of  send- 
ing a  deputation  of  twelve  of  their  body  to  attend  the  funeral.^ 


•  Jefferson's  Writings,  III.  168.     t  Ib.  171. 

i  The  following  is  an  extract  from  the  proces-verbal  of  the  National  Assembly,  on 
the  19th  July,  1792,  4th  year  of  liberty. 

"  The  National  Assembly,  desirous  of  honouring  the  memory  of  Paul  Jones,  Admi- 
ral of  the  United  States  of  America,  and  to  preserve,  by  a  memorable  example,  the 


PAUL   JONES.  545 

He  was  buried  at  Paris  on  the  20th  July,  and  the  following 
funeral  discourse  was  pronounced  over  his  grave  by  Mr.  Mar- 
ron,  a  protestant  clergyman  of  Paris  : 

[TRANSLATION.] 

"  Discourse  pronounced  by  Mr.  Marron,  officiating  Protestant 
Clergyman,  at  the  funeral  of  Admiral  Paul  Jones,  July  20, 
1792,  in  Paris. 

"  Legislators  !  citizens  !  soldiers  !  friends  !  brethren  !  and 
Frenchmen  !  we  have  just  returned  to  the  earth  the  remains 
of  an  illustrious  stranger,  one  of  the  first  champions  of  the  lib- 
erty of  America ;  of  that  liberty  which  so  gloriously  ushered  in 
our  own.  The  Semiramis  of  the  north  had  drawn  him  under 
her  standard,  but  Paul  Jones  could  not  long  breathe  the  pesti- 
lential air  of  despotism  ;  he  preferred  the  sweets  of  a  private  life 
in  France,  now  free,  to  the  eclat  of  titles  and  of  honours,  which, 
from  a  usurped  throne,  were  lavished  upon  him  by  Catharine. 
The  fame  of  the  brave  outlives  him  ;  his  portion  is  immortality. 
What  more  flattering  homage  could  we  pay  to  the  manes  of 
Paul  Jones,  than  to  swear  on  his  tomb  to  live  or  to  die  free  ?  It 
is  the  vow,  it  is  the  watch-word  of  every  Frenchman. 

"  Let  never  tyrants,  nor  their  satellites,  polute  this  sacred 
earth  !  May  the  ashes  of  the  great  man,  too  soon  lost  to 
humanity,  and  eager  to  be  free,  enjoy  here  an  undisturbed  re- 
pose !  Let  his  example  teach  posterity  the  efforts  which  noble 
souls  are  capable  of  making,  when  stimulated  by  hatred  to  op- 
pression. Friends  and  brethren,  a  noble  emulation  brightens  in 
your  looks;  your  time  is  precious;  the  country  is  in  danger! 
Who  amongst  us  would  not  shed  the  last  drop  of  their  blood  to 
save  it  ?  Associate  yourselves  to  the  glory  of  Paul  Jones,  in  imi- 
tating him  in  his  contempt  of  dangers,  in  his  devotedness  to  his 


equality  of  religious  rites,  decrees,  that  twelve  of  its  members  shall  assist  at  the  funeral 
rites  of  a  man  who  has  served  so  well  the  cause  of  liberty."  This  resolution  is  trans- 
lated from  a  certified  copy,  signed  on  the  29th  March,  in  the  following  year. 

08 


546  PAUL   JONES. 

country  in  his  noble  heroism,  which,  after  having  astonished 
the  present  age,  will  continue  to  be  the  imperishable  object  of 
the  veneration  of  future  generations!" 

"  Testament  of  Paul  Jones,  18th  July,  1792. 

"  Before  the  undersigned  notaries,  at  Paris,  appeared  Mr. 
John  PaulJones,  citizen  of  the  United  States  of  America,  resi- 
dent at  present  in  Paris,  lodged  in  the  street  of  Tournon,  No. 
42,  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Dorberque,  huissier  audiancier  of  the 
tribunal  of  the  third  arrondissement,  found  in  a  parlour  in  the 
first  story  above  the  floor,  lighted  by  two  windows  opening  on 
the  said  street  of  Tournon,  sitting  in  an  arm-chair,  sick  of  body, 
but  sound  of  mind,  memory,  and  understanding,  as  it  appeared 
to  the  undersigned  notaries  by  his  discourse  and  conversation, — 
.  "  Who,  in  view  of  death,  has  made,  dictated,  and  worded,  to 
the  undersigned  notaries,  his  testament  as  follows  : 

"  I  give  and  bequeath  all  the  goods,  as  well  moveable  as 
heritable,  and  all,  generally,  whatever  may  appertain  to  me  at 
my  decease,  in  whatever  country  they  may  be  situated,  to  my 
two  sisters,  Janette,  spouse  to  William  Taylor,  and  Mary,  wife 
to  Mr.  Loudon,  and  to  the  children  of  my  said  sisters,  to  divide 
them  into  as  many  portions  as  my  said  sisters  and  their  children 
shall  make  up  individuals,  and  to  be  enjoyed  by  them  in  the  fol- 
lowing manner  : 

"  My  sisters,  and  those  of  their  children,  who  on  the  day  of  my 
death  shall  have  reached  the  age  of  twenty-one,  will  enjoy  their 
share  in  full  property  from  the  date  of  decease.  As  for  those  of 
my  nephews  and  nieces  who  at  that  period  of  time  may  not  reach 
the  age  of  twenty-one  years,  their  mothers  will  enjoy  their 
shares  till  such  time  as  they  attain  that  said  age,  with  charge 
to  them  to  provide  for  their  food,  maintenance,  and  education  ; 
and  as  soon  as  any  of  my  nephews  or  nieces  will  have  reached 
the  age  of  twenty-one  years,  the  same  will  enjoy  his  share  in  full 
property. 

"  If  one  or  more  of  my  nephews  and  nieces  should  happen  to 
die  without  children  before  having  reached  the  age  of  twenty- 


PAUL   JONES.  547 

one,  the  share  of  those  of  them  who  may  have  deceased  shal) 
be  divided  betwixt  my  said  sisters  and  my  other  nephews  and 
nieces  by  equal  portions. 

"  I  name  the  Honourable  Robert  Morris,  Esq.  of  Philadel- 
phia, my  only  testamentary  executor. 

"  I  revoke  all  other  testaments  or  codicils  which  I  may  havti 
made  before  the  present,  which  alone  I  stand  by  as  containing 
my  last  will. 

"  So  made,  dictated,  and  worded,  by  said  testator,  to  the  said 
notaries  undersigned,  and  afterwards  read,  and  read  over  again 
to  him  by  one  of  them,  the  other  being  present,  which  he  well 
understood,  and  persevered  in,  at  Paris,  the  year  1792,  the  18th 
July,  about  five  o'clock  afternoon,  in  the  room  heretofore  de- 
scribed, and  the  said  testator  signed  the  original  of  the  present, 
unregistrated,  at  Paris,  the  25th  September,  1792,  by  Defrance, 
who  received  one  livre,  provisionally,  save  to  determine  defini- 
tively the  right  after  the  declaration  of  the  revenue  of  the  testa- 
tor. The  original  remained  with  Mr.  Pettier,  one  of  the 
notaries  at  Paris,  undersigned,  who  delivered  these  presents  this 
day,  26th  September,  J  792,  first  of  the  French  republic. 

"  POTTIER. 

"  (Signed)     L'AVERNIER." 

[Copy.] 

"  Schedule  of  the  property  of  Admiral  John  Paul  Jones,  as  stated 
by  him  to  me  this  I8th  of  July,  1792. 

"  1.  Bank  stock  in  the  Bank  of  North  America,  at  Phila- 
delphia, 6000  dollars,  with  sundry  dividends. 

"  2.  Loan-Office  certificate  left  with  my  friend  Mr.  Ross,  of 
Philadelphia,  for  two  thousand  dollars,  at  par,  with  great  ar- 
rearages of  interest,  being  for  ten  or  twelve  years. 

"  3.  Such  balance  as  may  be  in  the  hands  of  my  said  friend 
John  Ross,  belonging  to  me,  and  sundry  effects  left  in  his  care. 

"  4.  My  lands  in  the  state  of  Vermont. 


548  PAUL   JONES. 

"  5.  Shares  in  the  Ohio  Company.* 

"  6.  Shares  in  the  Indiana  Company. 

"  7.  About  JG1800  sterling  due  to  me  from  Edward  Bancroft, 


*  An  advertisement  appeared  in  the  American  papers,  dated  Marietta,  May  20th, 
1796,  giving  information,  that  John  Paul  Jones  was  a  proprietor  of  five  shares,  or 
5867  acres,  in  a  tract  purchased  by  the  Ohio  Company,  in  the  United  States  territory, 
for  which  a  deed  would  be  given,  on  the  application  of  his  heirs  or  representatives. 
One  of  these  advertisements,  cut  from  a  paper,  now  before  me,  was,  as  appears  by  the 
letter  to  which  it  is  attached,  transmitted  to  Mr.  Taylor,  of  Dumfries,  by  the  eldest  son 
of  Sir  Alexander  Gordon,  of  Culvenan,  at  the  request  of  the  Earl  of  Selkirk. 

The  following  memorandum,  translated,  as  appears  from  certain  erasures,  from  the 
French,  (the  original  is  not  found  among  the  papers,)  is  a  recapitulation  by  Jones, 
of  his  services  rendered  to  the  United  States,  and  the  honours  he  received  from 
France  and  America.  Let  him  be  allowed  to  sum  them  up  himself.  The  date  is  not 
inscribed  on  the  paper. 

"  In  1775,  J.  Paul  Jones  armed  and  embarked  in  the  first  American  ship  of  war.  In 
the  revolution  lie  had  twenty-three  battles  and  solemn  rencountres  by  sea ;  made 
seven  descents  in  Britain  and  her  colonies;  took  of  her  navy  two  ships  of  equal,  and 
two  of  far  superior  force,  many  store  ships,  and  others ;  constrained  her  to  fortify  her 
ports;  suffer  the  Irish  volunteers;  desist  from  her  cruel  burnings  in  America,  and  ex- 
change, as  prisoners  of  war,  the  American  citizens,  taken  on  the  ocean  and  cast  into 
prisons  in  England  as  '  traitors,  pirates,  and  felons!'  In  his  perilous  situation  in  Hol- 
land, his  conduct  drew  the  Dutch  into  the  war,  and  eventually  abridged  the  re  volution. 

HONOURS — BY  LOUIS  XVI. 

"  The  order  of  military  merit,  and  a  gold  sword,  June  28th,  1780. 

BY  CONGRESS. 

"  The  thanks  of  the  United  States,  April  14, 1781.  Elected  first  officer  of  the  navy, 
June  26, 1781.  Presented  with  a  gold  medal,  October  16,  1787. 

"  This  favour  was  granted  to  only  six  officers.  1st.  General  Washington,  comman- 
der in  chief,  for  the  taking  of  Boston.  2d.  General  Gates,  for  taking  the  army  of  Gene- 
ral Burgoyne.  3d.  To  General  Wayne,  for  taking  Rocky  Point,  of  which  the  gar- 
rison was  much  stronger  than  the  assailants.  4th.  To  General  Morgan,  for  having  cut 
down  and  destroyed  a  detachment  of  eleven  hundred  officers  and  soldiers  of  the  best 
troops  of  England,  with  nine  hundred  men  solely  militia.  5th.  To  General  Green,  for 
having  gained  a  decisive  victory  over  the  enemy  at  Eutaw  Springs.  But  all  these 
medals,  although  well  merited,  were  given  in  the  moments  of  enthusiasm.  He  had 
the  satisfaction  solely  to  receive  the  same  honour  by  the  unanimous  voice  of  the  United 
States  assembled  in  Congress,  the  16th  October,  1787,  in  memory  of  services  which 
he  had  rendered  eight  years  before." 


PAUL   JONES.  549 

unless  paid  by  him  to  Sir  Robert  Merries,  and  is  then  in  his 
hands. 

"  8.  Upwards  of  four  years  of  my  pension  due  from  Denmark, 
to  be  asked  from  the  Count  de  Bernstorf. 

"  9.  Arrearages  of  my  pay  from  the  empress  of  Russia,  and  all 
my  prize-money. 

"  10.  The  balance  due  to  me  by  the  United  States  of  America, 
of  sundry  claims  in  Europe,  which  will  appear  from  my  papers. 

••  This  is  taken  from  his  mouth. 

"GOVERNEUR  MORRIS." 

Several  papers  and  vouchers,  nominally  for  a  considera- 
ble value,  were  certified  by  Mr.  Robert  Hyslop,  of  New  York, 
in  1797,  to  have  been  left  in  his  hands,  "  belonging  to  the  estate 
of  the  late  Commodore  Jones."  The  value  of  most  of  them,  it 
would  seem  from  the  inventory,  was  merely  nominal,  so  far  as 
money  could  be  recovered  upon  them. 

Whatever  claim  Jones  might  have  had  upon  this  government, 
none  has  ever  been  urged  since  the  partial  settlement  of  his  ac- 
counts in  1787,  of  which  his  correspondence  and  the  accompany- 
ing documents  make  any  mention.  His  representatives  were 
more  fortunate,  in  obtaining  a  partial  payment  from  France. 
His  sister,  Mrs.  Taylor,  set  out  from  Scotland  for  Paris,  in  the 
month  of  October,  next  after  his  death,  and  after  some  adven- 
tures, almost  romantic,  succeeded  in  obtaining  shelter,  and  an 
introduction,  which  enabled  her  to  appear  in  person  before 
the  national  assembly,  and  present  her  claim.  Payment  was 
ordered  ;  but  she  was  obliged  to  escape,  and  find  her  way  home 
through  tumult  and  danger,  after  all  her  acquaintances  had  left 
the  capital,  before  she  had  received  the  whole  amount.  She 
was  in  the  city,  when  Louis  XVI.  suffered,  a  spectacle  her 
brother  was  spared  from  witnessing.  His  remains  mouldered 
quietly  in  the  spot  where  they  were  deposited,  while  the  storms 
of  revolution  roared  over  them  unheard. 

His  papers  were  among  the  articles  belonging  to  him,  which 
Mrs.  Taylor  was  enabled  to  secure.  Three  days  after  she  left 


550  PAUL   JONES. 

Paris,  Mr.  White,  Maitre  d'Hotel  Anglais,  with  whom  she  had 
lodged,  was  arrested,  and  his  effects  were  seized.  A  gentleman 
who  had  been  a  particular  acquaintance  of  Mrs.  Taylor,  and 
an  Irishman  who  had  acted  as  her  valet  de  place,  were 
guillotined. 

In  the  personal  appearance  of  Paul  Jones  there  was  nothing, 
if  we  may  credit  the  statement  of  those  who  remember  him,  and 
among  these,  of  ladies,  who  are  perhaps  the  best  judges;  nor  is 
there  any  thing  in  the  busts  or  pictures  taken  of  him,  that  would 
have  particularly  attracted  attention.  He  was  of  the  middle 
size,  if  not  rather  under  ;  naturally  active  in  body,  and  capable 
of  undergoing  much  fatigue,  as  is  evident  from  the  record  of  his 
life  which  has  been  presented.  His  bust,  by  Houdon,  of  which 
several  copies  remain  in  this  country,  is  believed  to  be  the  best 
representation  of  his  features  ever  made.  Their  character  is 
that  of  decision  and  self-will. 

His  occupations,  from   boyhood  until  long  after  the  period 
when  the  social  habits  of  men  are  generally  developed,  were  such 
as  to  preclude  us  from  forming  an  estimate  of  what  these  would 
naturally  have  been,  under  other  circumstances.  His  attachment 
to  his  near  relations,  of  whom  he  saw  so  little  from  the  period 
of  his   childhood,   and   nothing,    after   a    hasty   visit  paid   to 
them  when  he  was  in  his  twenty-fourth  year,   is  sufficiently 
shown  by  his  correspondence,  and  the  last  act  of  his  life.     It 
became,  of  course,  necessary  for  him  to  adopt  the  manners  of 
the  different  courts  and  circles  into  which  he  was  introduced  ; 
and,  though  he  could  not  have  been  a  polished  courtier,  it  is  as 
obvious  that  he  was  not  rude  and  inapt.     The  frankness,  and 
even  the  innocent   vanity  which  may,  perhaps,   have  charac- 
terized his  demeanour  on  such  occasions,  are  certainly  allied  to 
good  nature,  simplicity  of  heart,  and  a  love  for  the  family  of 
man.     The  testimony  of  many  of  his  officers,  and  the  crews 
that  served  under  him,  rendered  in  different  publications  since 
his  death,  is  not  wanting  to  prove  that,  though   a  practical  as 
well  as  a  theoretical  stickler  for  discipline,  he  was  sincerely 
liked  and  revered  among  them.     The  late  Commodore  Dale, 


PAUL   JONES.  551 

in  relating  anecdotes  of  his  cruise  under  him,  and  their  whole 
intercourse,  always  spoke  of  him  as  "  Paul  "  simply,  and  as  of  a 
friend  whom  he  had  loved  and  lost.  In  these  different  rela- 
tions, therefore,  and  in  the  constant  expressions  of  his  craving 
desire  to  mitigate  the  woes,  and  break  the  fetters  of  mankind, 

"  Where'er  degraded  nature  bleeds  and  pines," 

we  can  detect  no  elements  of  an  organization,  which  could  have 
made  him,  as  tradition  has  reported,  "  an  unpleasant  com- 
panion in  a  stage-coach." 

That  his  temperament  was  ardent,  impatient,  and  irritable, 
may  not  be  denied.  That  he  was  enabled  to  subdue  its  first 
impulses,  on  occasions  where  important  interests  were  at  stake, 
should  add  to  his  fame  the  glory  of  victories,  often  more  difficult 
than  those  which  he  gained  on  the  ocean.  We  shall  not  take 
into  account  a  few  letters  written  under  the  combined  pressure 
of  disease  and  undeserved  disappointment,  when  we  say,  that 
he  never  forfeited  his  own  self-respect,  nor  was  it  ever  misled 
or  "  frighted"  from  its  propriety.  In  relation  to  his  personal 
differences  with  individuals,  idle  stories  have  been  in  circula- 
tion, some  of  which  have  not  become  entirely  obsolete ;  but 
they  are  all,  where  their  truth  might  reflect  discredit  upon 
Jones,  utterly  without  foundation,  as  a  simple  comparison  of 
dates  will  prove.  His  treatment  of  the  eccentric  Landais,  was 
precisely  such  as  the  conduct  of  that  officer  called  for,  after 
Jones  truly  understood  his  character,  and  the  persecution  against 
him  had  been  dropped.  Yet  it  was  such  as  it  is  difficult  for  a 
man  of  common  passions,  not  under  subjection  to  high-souled 
principles,  and  an  unequivocal  consciousness  of  rectitude  and 
superiority,  to  observe,  at  all  times,  without  making  some  de- 
monstration of  anger,  or  exhibiting  some  sign  of  pain.* 


*  Since  the  pages  of  the  first  part  of  this  volume  were  stereotyped,  the  compiler 
has  found  a  statement  which  appeared  in  the  New  York  newspaper  called  the 
Argus,  on  the  30th  October,  1787,  signed  by  James  Milligan,  containing  a  precisely 
worded  account  of  what  happened  on  one  occasion,  when  Landais  passed  Jones  ir. 


652  PAUL    JONES. 

;  His  natural  temper  being  duly  considered,  the  education 
which  Jones  received,  or  rather  acquired,  will  much  more 
readily  account  for  what  may  be  deemed  his  infirmities,  than 
for  the  successes  he  attained,  and  the  honours  he  won  with  such 
chivalrous  daring,  and  wore  with  such  chivalrous  pride.  He 
must  be  allowed  to  have  possessed  intellectual  faculties  much 
above  those  of  ordinary  men;  and  such  as  were  precisely  wanted 
for  the  services  which  our  young  republic  required  him  to  exe- 
cute. The  energy,  accuracy,  and  propriety  of  his  style  of  wri- 
ting, shew  that  he  thought,  as  well  as  expressed  himself,  with 
an  order  and  regularity  which  can  never  belong  to  an  undisci- 
plined mind.  At  the  same  time,  he  thought  earnestly  and  solely 
with  a  reference  to  the  point  which  he  wished  to  carry  ;  and 
went  into  negotiation  as  he  went  into  battle,  with  no  wish  to 
waste  any  ammunition,  or  lose  any  time  in  manoauvring.  He 
was,  of  course,  according  to  the  manners  of  his  age,  a  better 
partizan-warrior  than  diplomatist. 

The  elements  which  constitute  a  hero  were  liberally  mixed 
up  in  his  character.  He  had  courage,  humanity,  liberality  ; 
a  romantic  admiration  of  woman ;  the  art  of  commanding ;  the 


the  street,  which  may  have  been  the  same  with  that  alluded  to  in  a  note  in  the  Ap- 
pendix to  Part  I.  The  substance  of  this  communication  is,  that  on  the  20th  October, 
about  noon,  the  narrator  accidentally  met  Jones  in  Water-street,  at  the  upper  end  of 
Governeur's  Alley.  After  conversing  two  or  three  minutes,  Landais  came  down  the 
street,  towards  them,  which  Milligan  mentioned  to  Jones,  whose  back  was  towards 
Landais.  Landais  passed  very  slowly,  and  kept  his  eyes  on  them  with  a  kind  of  smile  in 
his  coun.enance,  till  he  was  about  six  or  seven  yards  distant,  when,  looking  at  Milli- 
gan more  particularly,  he  said,  "I  spit  in  his  face."  Whenhe  had  walked  on,  the  nar- 
rator asked  Jones  if  he  had  understood  what  Landais  said.  He  answered,  "  No,  I  did 
not  hear  him."  Mr.  Milligan  did  not  inform  Jones  what  the  words  were,  observed 
that  his  countenance  was  perfectly  tranquil  and  composed,  and  had  no  idea  whatever 
that  the  action  of  which  Landais  spoke  had  been  attempted. 

Jones  saw  fit  to  add  to  the  certificate,  of  which  the  foregoing  is  the  substance,  the  fol- 
lowing words,  with  his  signature  annexed :  "  My  respect  for  the  public  has  induced  me 
to  establish  the  falsity  of  the  report  of  Peter  Landais,  by  the  above  relation  of  Mr.  Mil- 
ligan, the  only  evidence  in  question.  The  original  is  in  my  hands.  Having  dis- 
charged that  duty,  I  shall  not  condescend  to  reply  to  any  thing  that  may  be  said  or 
published  by  a  person  of  his  known  character." 


PAUL  JONES.  553 

power  of  conceiving  projects  fraught  with  danger  to  the  foe ;  of 
planning  the  details,  and  bringing  them,  by  the  mastery  of  his, 
own  practical  genius  to  a  successful  result ;  ambition  that  was 
checked  in  its  speculative  mood  by  no  other  restraint  than  that 
of  principle  ;  and  the  inextinguishable  love  of  glory,  which  gave 
its  own  golden  hues  to  all  his  doings,  sufferings,  and  aspirations. 
And  surely  that  for  which  he  fought  remains,  though  the  light 
has  long  since  faded  away  from  his  vision. 

He  was,  as  has  been  remarked  in  the  course  of  this  compila- 
tion, precisely  one  of  those  men  whom  America  wanted,  and 
whom  Providence  in  its  wisdom  raised  up  for  the  exigency. 
The  very  defects  of  his  education,  and  even  of  his  temper,  were 
advantages  to  a  cause  where  positive  energy  was  invoked.  He 
must  and  will  be  honoured  among  the  foremost  patriots  whose 
services  in  battle  the  people  of  this  republic  are  bound  to  hold 
in  hallowed  remembrance.  It  must  be  borne  in  mind,  that  the 
seeming  frequency  of  his  allusions  to  his  own  successes,  in  the 
foregoing  pages,  arises  from  the  necessity  of  throwing  together 
the  correspondence  of  a  series  of  years,  addressed  to  individuals 
and  public  functionaries,  and  bodies  widely  separated  by  space 
and  in  political  intercourse.  It  can  scarcely  be  said,  that  he  has 
exaggerated  the  utility,  and  certainly  not  the  merit  of  his  enter- 
prises or  performances.  No  naval  commander,  who  sailed 
under  the  stars  and  stripes  during  the  revolution,  and  "  brought 
the  red  cross  low,"  can  claim  more  respectful  notice  in  our  an- 
nals, than  the  sailor  boy  from  the  shores  of  Solway  Frith ;  who 
knew  how  to  fight  for  the  "  rights  of  human  nature,"  but  was 
mistaken  when  he  thought  he  could  maintain  his  own  inde- 
pendence, and  reap  laurels,  in  the  service  of  a  female  autocrat, 
and  under  the  orders  of  her  luxurious  and  spoiled  favourite, 
whose  origin  was  still  more  humble  than  his  own. 

Franklin  and  Jefferson  duly  appreciated  his  value.  They 
gave  him  every  proof  of  their  entire  confidence,  and  have  left 
behind  them  their  testimony  to  his  courage,  intelligence,  and 
unquestioned  fidelity.  The  latest  evidence  of  this,  too  lately 
given  to  console  even  the  dying  moments  of  one  whose  blood 

69 


554  PAUL   JONES. 

and  whose  talents  were  devoted  without  reserve  to  the  liberty 
of  man,  was  furnished  by  Mr.  Jefferson,  when  he  recommended 
the  admiral  as  a  proper  agent  to  redeem  American  captives 
from  bondage  in  Algiers.  Another  name,  no  less  illustrious, 
may  be  cited — that  of  one  thrice  happy,  and  thrice  honoured  ; 
and  whose  crowning  glory  places  him  in  a  moral  attitude  which 
no  living  individual  can  hope  to  attain.  Can  history  supply  a 
parallel  ? 

LA  FAYETTE  was  the  friend  of  Paul  Jones.  He  was  willing 
to  have  co-operated  with  him  in  one  of  the  enterprises  he  had 
projected.  He  bears  record  to  his  high  and  stainless  character 
as  an  officer,  and  as  a  man. 

It  is  probable  that  the  extravagant  stories  and  ridiculous 
legends,  circulated  orally  and  in  print,  have  excited  a  curiosity 
in  relation  to  the  life  and  character  of  Jones,  which  does  not  at- 
tach to  that  of  many  others,  whose  gallantry  was  equal  to  his 
own,  but  whom  circumstances  did  not  place  in  so  prominent  a 
point  of  view,  or  about  whom  there  was  less  mystery,  and  less 
lying.  He  was  one  of  those  gallant  men,  whose  exploits  are  wor- 
thy of  being  recorded  ;  and  whose  example  has  been  so  well  imi- 
tated, that  the  cause  of  freedom  is  almost  by  a  millenium  in 
advance  of  what  might  have  been  prudently  anticipated  a  hun- 
dred years  ago.  In  his  fond  devotion  to  that  holy  cause,  Columbia 
was  his  muse ;  the  doctrines  of  the  fathers  of  our  independence 
were  the  articles  of  his  creed  ;  and,  by  what  has  been  narrated  or 
quoted,  in  relation  to  his  latter  moments,  it  has  been  seen,  that 
then,  like  a  true  religionist  of  whatever  sect,  turning  his  face 
towards  the  star,  the  region,  or  the  temple  of  his  idolatry,  he 
looked  last  to  the  United  States  of  America,  the  youngest  of 
nations,  before  he  died.  When  he  fought  under  the  flag  which 
is  now  respected  on  the  all-encompassing  ocean,  wherever  its 
pulse  agitates  the  meanest  stream  which  pays  to  the  sea  its 
lawful  tribute,  he  knew  of  but  one  land  of  freedom.  Under  that 
pictured  constellation,  conveying  a  meaning  far  more  useful 
and  sublime  than  eastern  sages  ever  read  or  chronicled  in  their 
observations  of  the  firmament ;  under  this  banner,  which  he 


PAUL   JONES.  555 

first  had  the  happy  privilege  of  raising  with  his  own  hands,  he 
sailed,  as  from  the  birth-place,  and  as  bearing  the  ensign,  of 
LIBERTY.  The  ocean  which  he  traversed,  to  maintain  the  holy 
cause  in  which  he  had  embarked,  was  one,  and  indivisible,  save 
by  fragile  barriers,  which  could  only  make  stagnant  a  portion 
of  its  waters,  incalculably  small,  and  the  loss  of  which  the  foun- 
tains of  the  great  deep  would  instantaneously  supply. 

To  this  constellation  he  looked  for  his  guidance,  in  the  vari- 
ous courses  on  which  he  steered  in  his  voyage  of  life.  Can  we 
better  conclude  this  compilation  of  his  shreds  of  autobiography 
than  by  hoping,  that  no  one  of  those  stars  may  ever  "  shoot 
madly  from  its  sphere ;"  and  that  this  banner  may  float, 
during  all  time,  the  truly  blazoned  emblem  of  "  armed  and 
awful"  freedom  ? 

"  For  ever  float  that  standard  sheet !" 

And  while  it  does  float,  there  will  be  no  true  servant  of  his 
country,  whether  intrusted  by  her  with  authority  in  her  marine, 
or  doing  his  duty  therein  in  the  humblest  office,  who  will  not 
revere  the  memory,  rejoice  in  the  glory,  and  sometimes  sigh 
for  the  crosses  and  disappointments  of  JOHN  PAUL  JONES. 


FINIS. 


D.  Fanthmr,  Printer. 


SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 

405  Hilgard  Avenue,  Los  Angeles,  CA  90024-1388 

Return  this  material  to  the  library 

from  which  it  was  borrowed. 


Ill  Ml  Ilii;  IN  I  III  1 1  MM  I II II 
A     000  605  536     2 


